Global carbon emissions dropped an unprecedented 17% during the coronavirus lockdown -- and it change

[Judi Lynn]

Global carbon emissions dropped an unprecedented 17% during the coronavirus lockdown — and it changes nothing
By Brandon Specktor - Senior Writer 6 hours ago

It’s a start — now we need to keep them down for the next 30 years.



Night lights in Wuhan, China, show the difference in human activity between late January and early February 2020, when the COVID-19 coronavirus spread through the city.
(Image: © Joshua Stevens/ NASA)

As the coronavirus pandemic forced much of the world into lockdown by early April, daily global carbon dioxide emissions fell by 17% compared with 2019 levels, a new study published May 19 in the journal Nature Climate Change found.

This reduction — which is primarily the result of disruptions to ground transportation and industry — may be one of the single largest emission drops in recorded history, the researchers said. However, they added, it is also likely to be temporary; with lockdown measures already being rescinded, daily global emissions are estimated to return close to 2019 levels by the end of the year, barely affecting the enormous amounts of carbon dioxide clouding our atmosphere and warming our planet more and more each year.

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Global carbon emissions dropped an unprecedented 17% during the coronavirus lockdown — and it changes nothing
By Brandon Specktor - Senior Writer 6 hours ago

It’s a start — now we need to keep them down for the next 30 years.






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Night lights in Wuhan, China, show the difference in human activity between late January and early February 2020, when the COVID-19 coronavirus spread through the city.
Night lights in Wuhan, China, show the difference in human activity between late January and early February 2020, when the COVID-19 coronavirus spread through the city.
(Image: © Joshua Stevens/ NASA)
As the coronavirus pandemic forced much of the world into lockdown by early April, daily global carbon dioxide emissions fell by 17% compared with 2019 levels, a new study published May 19 in the journal Nature Climate Change found.

This reduction — which is primarily the result of disruptions to ground transportation and industry — may be one of the single largest emission drops in recorded history, the researchers said. However, they added, it is also likely to be temporary; with lockdown measures already being rescinded, daily global emissions are estimated to return close to 2019 levels by the end of the year, barely affecting the enormous amounts of carbon dioxide clouding our atmosphere and warming our planet more and more each year.

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"Although this is likely to lead to the largest cut in emissions since World War II, it will make barely a dent in the ongoing build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," Richard Betts, Head of Climate Impacts Research at the Met Office Hadley Centre in England, said in a statement. (Betts was not involved in the study.) "It’s like we’re filling a bath and have turned down the tap slightly, but not turned it off — the water is still rising, just not as fast. To stop the bath overflowing, we need to turn the tap off."

In the new study, the researchers analyzed lockdown measures in 69 countries, which account for 97% of global carbon dioxide emissions. The team looked at data from six key economic sectors — including ground transportation, air transportation, power, industry, public buildings and private residences — to estimate the changes in daily emissions from each sector between January and April 2020, compared with mean levels from the same period in 2019.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/carbon-dioxide-reduction-coronavirus-lockdown.html

[AlexSFCA]

1. now we know if we put our minds to it we can combat climate change