Due to the pandemic of COVID 19 that caused lockdown in the world, there is a cut of 17% in the carbon emissions. As life and the heat-trapping gases get back to normal this brief drop of pollution will likely be a drop in the ocean as far as the changes in the climate are concerned.
During the pandemic, the scientists conducted a study that stated as the levels of pollution are heading up again they will now end up from 4-7% which is lower than the levels of 2019 which is still a big annual drop since World War 2. It has been said that it will remain 7% if the strict rules are continued in the lockdown and will be dropping to 4% if it is lifted anytime soon. The United States cut down its emissions
to one third for one week of April.
World’s biggest heat-trapping gas emitter, China, reduced its emissions to a quarter in February as said by a study on Tuesday in the Nature Climate Change journal.
Meanwhile, India and Europe have cut their emissions by 26% and 27% respectively.
From April 4 to 9 it was the biggest global drop when the world was emitting 18.7 million tons of carbon pollution in a day than it was on New Year’s Day. The last time such low emission was recorded was in 2006, but if the world gets back to its gradually decreasing pollution next year this temporary reduction will be a drop in the ocean.
“It’s like you have a bath filled with water and you are turning off the tap for 10 seconds” said author Corrine LeQuere, a climate scientist at the University of East Anglia.
The day from its low pint in April, the pollution had grown 3,3 million tons as the carbon dioxide can stay in the air for about a century.
Other experts praised the study and said that it showed the amount of effort needed to put in to prevent the harmful levels of Global warming from growing any further.
If the world can keep up to this level of drop for a century without the need for a lockdown, there is a chance that the Earth can prevent itself from going a degree warmer than it was previously and hence preventing the levels of global warming.
But getting the type of yearly cuts to reach the international goal is unlikely.
If the next year returns the levels of 2019 this means that there is a delay of one year in hitting one extra degree of warming that is being avoided and that level can still occur from 2050 to 2070.
The study was carried out by the Global Carbon Project, a consortium of scientists that gives an authoritative study of carbon emissions. A total of 450 databases were seen that showed the use of energy daily and gave a measurement scale to measure in its
estimate.
Nearly half the emission came from less transportation pollution coming mostly from cars and trucks the author said. It was found by the study that a drastic reduction in air travel only accounted for 10 % of overall pollution drop.
The biggest drop of pollution was seen in California and Washington that peaked at 40% of the drop.
