Earth's Economy Continued Cooling in November 2021

Going by the reduction in the rate at which carbon dioxide is accumulating in the Earth’s atmosphere, November 2021 saw a net reduction in economic activity on the planet.

Since July 2021, much of that decline is associated with COVID-related disruptions of manufacturing production in southeast Asia, and also a shortage of fossil fuels that developed in China, which forced the Chinese government to shutter energy-intensive manufacturing. While both situations have somewhat abated, their disruptions still negatively affect the world’s economy given the region’s relatively “early” position in global supply chains.

A good example of that impact can be seen in the global market for new steel and aluminum production, where Chinese foundries provide the materials used within the country and elsewhere in the world for higher value production. China’s production of steel and aluminum has fallen significantly in the last several months. That reduction has created shortages of materials for other countries like Germany, whose economic output has been greatly reduced as a result.

Here’s a chart showing the continued decline in the rate at which human economic activities are adding carbon dioxide to the Earth’s atmosphere.

Since December 2019, a net reduction of 0.74 parts per million of atmospheric carbon dioxide has been recorded in the trailing twelve month average of the year over year rate of change in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels measured at the remote Mauna Loa Observatory. We estimate this change represents a net loss of $24.6 trillion to the world economy since the coronavirus pandemic originated in China at this time. Approximately a third of that decline has taken place since July 2021.

Meanwhile, on Mars, economic output has hit an all time high, but that’s mainly because the red planet’s GDP is now greater than zero. More on that story here from your sole source of planetary scale economic reporting!

References

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Earth System Research Laboratory. Mauna Loa Observatory CO2 Data. [Text File]. Updated 6 December 2021. Accessed 6 December 2021.

Previously on Political Calculations

Here is our series quantifying the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Earth’s economy, presented in reverse chronological order.

• Earth’s Economy Continued Cooling in November 2021
• World GDP Shrinks at Slower Rate in October 2021
• Fossil Fuel Shortages Shrink World GDP
• Global GDP Falls as COVID Hits Southeast Asia
• World GDP Still Shrinking from Coronavirus Pandemic
• Estimated Net Global GDP Lost to Coronavirus Pandemic Exceeds $15.6 Trillion
• Coronavirus Pandemic Sends Global Economy Into Triple Dip Recession
• Double Dip Global Coronavirus Recession Sees Second Bottom
• Net Global GDP Lost to Coronavirus Pandemic Tops $13.6 Trillion
• Global Double Dip Coronavirus Recession Deepens
• Global Economy Enters Double Dip Coronavirus Recession
• Global Economy Teeters on Double Dip Recession
• World GDP Lost Due to Coronavirus Reaches $12 Trillion
• Cumulative World GDP Loss From Coronavirus Pandemic Tops $11 Trillion
• Estimates of World GDP Lost to the Global Coronavirus Recession
• Finding Human Fingerprints in Atmospheric CO2
• The Coronavirus and Atmospheric CO2 in April 2020
• The Coronavirus, Atmospheric CO2, and GDP