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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBiggest carbon dioxide drop: Real-time data show COVID-19's massive impact on global emissions
While the ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten millions of lives around the world, the first half of 2020 saw an unprecedented decline in CO2 emissions -- larger than during the financial crisis of 2008, the oil crisis of the 1979, or even World War II. An international team of researchers has found that in the first six months of this year, 8.8 percent less carbon dioxide was emitted than in the same period in 2019 -- a total decrease of 1551 million tonnes. The groundbreaking study not only offers a much more precise look at COVID-19's impact on global energy consumption than previous analyses. It also suggests what fundamental steps could be taken to stabilize the global climate in the aftermath of the pandemic.
"What makes our study unique is the analysis of meticulously collected near-real-time data," explains lead author Zhu Liu from the Department of Earth System Science at Tsinghua University in Beijing. "By looking at the daily figures compiled by the Carbon Monitor research initiative we were able to get a much faster and more accurate overview, including timelines that show how emissions decreases have corresponded to lockdown measures in each country. In April, at the height of the first wave of Corona infections, when most major countries shut down their public life and parts of their economy, emissions even declined by 16.9 %. Overall, the various outbreaks resulted in emission drops that we normally see only on a short-term basis on holidays such as Christmas or the Chinese Spring Festival."
The study, published in the latest issue of Nature Communications, shows which parts of the global economy were most impacted. "The greatest reduction of emissions was observed in the ground transportation sector," explains Daniel Kammen, professor and Chair of the Energy and Resources Group and also professor in the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley. "Largely because of working from home restrictions, transport CO2 emissions decreased by 40 % worldwide. In contrast, the power and industry sectors contributed less to the decline, with -22 % and -17 %, respectively, as did the aviation and shipping sectors. Surprisingly, even the residential sector saw a small emissions drop of 3 %: largely because of an abnormally warm winter in the northern hemisphere, heating energy consumption decreased with most people staying at home all day during lockdown periods."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201014082806.htm
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,041 posts)ansible
(1,718 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,041 posts)maxsolomon
(32,992 posts)"Do more" doesn't mean "ban all cars poor people can afford". Always with the Binary oppositions.
Internal combustion engines aren't going to disappear in 2021.
malaise
(267,845 posts)RFN! Important.
Liberal In Texas
(13,457 posts)Since covid, not working and when I was I was driving a PHEV and can do all of my local trips with no gas. So I'm using it now for errands and groceries etc. Another of our cars is a Honda Fit and as little as it's been driven lately means the gas tank hasn't been filled in almost 3 months.
StClone
(11,679 posts)Mother Earth is making a move to homeostasis.
roamer65
(36,739 posts)hatrack
(59,446 posts)Link to tweet
October is the "low month" for atmospheric carbon, and the lowest daily reading so far in October was the 9th.
We've been going up in nearly two weeks since, and we'll likely break 420 ppm next May at the next seasonal peak.
At 2.13 billion metric tons per ppm, that'll put us 149 billion tons beyond the aspirations of 350.org.
And so it goes.
WyattKansas
(1,648 posts)When you think about how rapidly it spread around the world and exactly how it spread, Gaia could be telling the human species that they need to change their ways of destroying the planet if they want to remain here.
Hekate
(90,202 posts)Disaffected
(4,508 posts)Reduced CO2 emissions and, helps Trump lose the election.
Also much less air pollution.