GREEN MEANS GO...
CORONAVIRUS: AIR POLLUTION AND CO2 FALL RAPIDLY AS VIRUS SPREADS
Levels of air pollu- tants and warming gases over some cities and regions are showing signifi- cant drops as coronavirus impacts work and travel. Researchers in New York told the BBC their early results showed carbon mon- oxide mainly from cars had been re- duced by nearly 50% compared with last year. Emissions of the planet-heating gas CO2 have also fallen sharply. But there are warnings levels could rise rapidly after the pandemic. With global eco- nomic activity ramp- ing down as a result of the pandemic, it is hardly surprising that emissions of a variety of gases related to energy and transport would be reduced. Scientists say that by May, when CO2 emissions are at their peak thanks to the decomposition of leaves, the levels recorded might be the lowest since the financial crisis over a decade ago. While it is early days, data collected in New York sug- gested that ins- tructions to curb
unnecessary travel are having a signifi- cant impact. Traffic levels in the city were estimated to be down 35% compared with a year ago. Emissions of carbon monoxide, mainly due to cars and trucks, have fall- en by around 50% for a couple of days last month accord- ing to researchers at Columbia University. They have also found that there was a 5-10% drop in CO2 over New York and a solid drop in methane as well. Although there are a number of cav- eats to these findings, they echo the environmental impacts connected to the virus out- breaks in China and in Italy. An analysis carried out for the climate website Carbon Brief suggested there had been a 25% drop in energy use and emissions in China over a two- week period. This is likely to lead to an overall fall of about 1% in China’s carbon emissions this year, experts believe. Both China and Northern Italy have also recorded signif- icant falls in
chance to alter that outcome. They could insist, for instance, that any bailout of airlines would be tied to
far more
nitrogen dioxide, which is related to reduced car jour- neys and industrial activity. The gas is both a serious air pollutant and a pow- erful warming chemical. With aviation grind- ing to a halt and millions of people working from home, a range of emissions across many coun- tries are likely to be following the same downward path. While people work- ing from home will likely increase the use of home heating and electricity, the curbing of commut- ing and the general
slowdown in econ- omies will likely have an impact on overall emissions. Specialists believe that the shutdown will impact CO2 lev- els for the whole of this year.
“It will depend on how long the pan- demic lasts, and how widespread the slowdown is in the economy particular- ly in the US. But most
likely I think
we will see some- thing in the global emissions this year,” said Prof Corinne Le Quéré from the Uni- versity of East Anglia. “If it lasts another three or four
months, certainly we could see some reduction.” What’s likely to make a major differ- ence to the scale of carbon emissions and air pollution is how governments decide to re-stimu- late their economies once the pandemic eases.
Back in the 2008- 2009, after the global financial crash, carbon emis- sions shot up by 5% as a result of stimu- lus spending that boosted fossil fuel use.
In the coming months, govern- ments will have a
stringent reductions in aviation emissions. “Governments now have to be really cau- tious on how they re-stimulate their economies, mindful of not locking in fos- sil fuels again,” said Prof Le Quéré. “They should focus on those things that are ready to go that would lower emis- sions, such as ren- ovating buildings, putting in heat pumps and electric chargers. These are not complicated and can be done straight away, they are just waiting for financial incentives.” However, some ar- gue that if the pandemic goes on a long time, any stim- ulus would more likely focus on pro- moting any econ- omic growth regard- less of the impact on the environment. The only silver lin- ing, albeit small, could be learn- ing new practices to work remotely, thus buying a few years of lower growth allowing solar and wind to catch up.
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APRIL 2020
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