Scientists say that the drop in carbon Dioxide emissions is majoly because people are staying home, travelling less by car and plane due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but they warn emissions are expected to jump back up after the health crisis ends
A locked-down pandemic-struck world cut its carbon dioxide emissions this year by 7 per cent, the biggest drop ever, new preliminary figures show. The Global Carbon Project, an authoritative group of dozens of international scientists who track emissions, calculated that the world will have put 37 billion US tons (34 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide in the air in 2020.
That’s down from 40.1 billion US tons (36.4 billion metric tons) in 2019, according to a study published on Thursday (December 10) in the journal Earth System Science Data.
Scientists say this drop is chiefly because people are staying home, travelling less by car and plane, and that emissions are expected to jump back up after the pandemic ends. Ground transportation makes up about one-fifth of emissions of carbon dioxide, the chief man-made heat-trapping gas.
Of course, lockdown is absolutely no the way to tackle climate change, said study co-author Corinne LeQuere, a climate scientist at the University of East Anglia.
The same group of scientists months ago predicted emission drops of 4 per cent to 7 per cent, depending on the progression of COVID-19. A second coronavirus wave and continued travel reductions pushed the decrease to 7 per cent, Ms. LeQuere said. Emissions dropped 12 per cent in the United States and 11 per cent in Europe, but only 1.7 per cent in China.
That’s because China had an earlier lockdown with less of a second wave. Also, China’s emissions are more industrial-based than other countries and its industry was less affected than transportation, Ms. LeQuere said.
The calculations — based on reports detailing energy use, industrial production and daily mobility counts — were praised as accurate by outside scientists. Even with the drop in 2020, the world on average put 1,185 tons (1,075 metric tons) of carbon dioxide into the air every second.
Final figures for 2019 published in the same study show that from 2018 to 2019 emissions of the main man-made heat-trapping gas increased only 0.1 per cent, much smaller than annual jumps of around 3 per cent a decade or two ago. Even with emissions expected to rise after the pandemic, scientists are wondering if 2019 be the peak of carbon pollution, Ms. LeQuere said.
We are certainly very close to an emissions peak, if we can keep the global community together, said United Nations Development Director Achim Steiner.
Chris Field, director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, thinks emissions will increase after the pandemic, but said,
I am optimistic that we have, as a society learned some lessons that may help decrease emissions in the future. For example, as people get good at telecommuting a couple of days a week or realise they don’t need quite so many business trips, we might see behaviour-related future emissions decreases.
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan.
It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases.
The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines.
Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered.
Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.
Originally published at Swasth India