In a year plagued by a deadly pandemic, people were more worried about climate change than contracting the virus that has killed almost 2 million people, a global study by public relations firm Edelman has found.

Climate anxiety was also more severe than the fear of loss of personal freedoms and cyber attacks and hackers in 2020, a troubling year in which wildfires ravaged Australia and the American West, storms ripped through much of Asia, and scientists warned of an impending ice-free Arctic.

Only the fear of being unemployed was a more frightening prospect for people in 2020, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, a study of more than 30,000 people in 27 countries.

The annual study of how much faith people have in institutions, which has been running since 1999, found that trust levels have plummeted as a result of the pandemic — and none more so than in government.

Businesses are now considered more ethical and competent than governments in 18 of 27 countries in the study, which was conducted between January 2020 and January 2021.

Read the full article about climate change and catching COVID-19 by Robin Hicks at Eco-Business.