(Newswire.net — May 22, 2020) — The Corona virus has taught us about how to reduce carbon emissions and make our earth more livable than before? It seems so!
Recently the world has witnessed a massive reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, a major driver of global warming. However, the reason is not something to celebrate. The reason for this fall is the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-2019) which started in China and now spreads to almost the whole world, which infects hundreds of thousands of people, closing factories, refineries and flights in many countries.
The Covid-19 pandemic that is spreading on the planet is causing at least one million tons of CO2 to be emitted from the world every day. According to international data, the main factor is the drastic drop in oil consumption. If, on the one hand, the exponential increase in the consumption of disposable plastic materials, such as gloves and masks, is a negative fact, on the other hand, some environmentalists point out possibilities to help improve the environment and even reduce global warming.
What the data shows is that we have a great environmental impact on the way society works today and we see an opportunity to discuss this model. Estimates from the specialized portal Carbon Brief says that if the reduction in coal consumption adds to the drop in oil use, global CO2 emissions could fall by about 7% this year. The number approaches the target of 7.6% reduction that the Paris Agreement seeks to achieve in 2020 and mitigate climate change on the planet.
This reduction proposed by the Paris Agreement is based on a report by the United Nations Environment Program. The document says that in order to limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius “above the average of the pre-industrial era” it is necessary to reduce 7.6% per year in greenhouse gas emissions. The sad irony is that this number could be reached this year on behalf of Covid-19.
Experts have estimated that as more countries close factories, cancel events, reduce the number of flights taken and implement mandatory quarantine measures, there may be a reduction in carbon emissions, the first since the 2008 global financial crisis. But today, requalification of transport systems, with new alternatives, would be fundamental. It is not a quarantine situation, which will lead to structural changes. In the financial crisis of 2008 there was also a big drop in CO2 emissions, but after government measures came to stimulate the economies that brought emissions back strongly. Other than that, positive developments in China indicate that the Covid-19 crisis may be shorter than the 2008 crisis.
In China, in particular, high CO2 emissions reductions may be short-lived if factories, when reopened, increase production exponentially to compensate for losses. Xi Jinping’s government has announced that it will provide a stimulus package for the Chinese economy to combat the effects of COVID-19, which, in the final analysis, can reduce the “progress” of the environment in recent months. As there is increasing research on vaccines and increasing public awareness to stem transmission, for very logical reasons, a situation where carbon emissions are reduced drastically will not last long and our planet will return to its “original state”.
But whatever the future is, it seems that the Corona pandemic has had adverse and beneficial effects together. It is detrimental considering the number of fatalities and economic losses generated and beneficial considering that carbon dioxide emissions are reduced drastically which will ultimately provide a “new breath” for the dying earth. What an expensive lesson!