Scientists and environmentalists have been struggling over the unstoppable destruction of the environment due to carbon emission. Countless advertisements, advocacies and movements have been done to decline the alarming number of carbon emission around the globe.
The COVID-19 infection surged in March and April contributed a massive factor in the momentous decline in global greenhouse gas emissions. The lockdown became a blessing in disguise for the Earth to heal herself. The abrupt decline of pollution from the transportations, factories, flying industrial output, leads to a sudden change of more than tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Less vehicle traffic, on its own, is very beneficial for the environment. For instance, if 30 percent of the workforce is working from home, the air traffic is reduced at 50 percent and people consumes less meat around 20 percent according to the study that eliminates 18 billion tons of carbon dioxide.
In China, that is considered the greatest nation that gives off carbon emission has ceased the temporary blow to industrial activities, which drastically falls the demand for oil and a temporary ban on travel. Experts have estimated that over the past few months, the percentage of the carbon emission lowers over 25 percent or less. Moreover, these effects are beyond any calculation of time and expectations.
Carbon Emissions decline by region:
CHINA, INDIA, EUROPE – 5%
UNITED STATES – 10 %
OTHER COUNTRIES – 15 %
A study published in the Journal of Nature Climate Change, the findings includes a peak of lesser daily emissions of 17 percent in early April. Scientists and environmentalists, however, aren’t really hopeful about the sudden drop in greenhouse gas emissions. Due to the lockdown, the manufacturing, power generation and including transportation and shipping were wholly affected. It only indicates how the pandemic dramatically transformed the daily lives of the people. But this is not enough to break the rapid cycle of climate change.
The wave of lockdown brought an impact on the reduction of pollution that greatly contributes to the abnormalities of carbon emission cycle. The study also reveal that total emissions for 2020 will likely deplete at 4 – 7 percent compared to the previous years.
The absence of systematic protocols and constant changes to how the nation will pull the lockdown, pollution could be worse when everything goes back to normal. Scientists said that there are more drastic changes to come to scale back carbon dioxide pollution and will rapidly became worst over the coming decades, although none have merely stated that the a deadly global pandemic is the only way to achieve it.
“Social response alone, as shown here, would not drive the deep and sustained reductions needed” the study reads, nothing is permanent because the pandemic is temporary. The total percentage of carbon emission will continuously drop on how long the precautionary measures of the lockdown will lasts. Greenhouse carbon emissions will be possibly back to we’re they were before the crisis by mid- July, the coronavirus pandemic would only have reduced 4 percent of pollution.
Consequently, “eight percent is not an awful lot in the grand scheme of things” Sean Sublete, a meteorologist at the non-profit Climate Central, told The Verge. Scientifically based, the carbon dioxide can reside in the atmosphere for hundreds or even thousands of years. Hence, the total amount of carbon dioxide will sum up the trapping of heat (greenhouse effect) as the human activities go on and grow. “It’s like a bathtub and you’ve had the spigot on full blast for a while, and you turn it back 10 percent, but you’re still fighting the bathtub” Sublete said.
If the Nations will not put their best foot forward on fighting the climate change during or after the pandemic, emissions could come back on a vengeance that is worse than ever before. On the other side of the road, if the abrupt decline of carbon emission at 4 to 7 percent annually – because of an intentional shift of paradigm from fossil fuels to renewable energy source – that could lead us to success, which aims the decrease of carbon dioxide circulating in our atmosphere.
The figure for 2020 will depend on how everything goes back to its normal state. The pandemic situation brought the worst and the best and true enough, the downturn of the carbon emissions brought impact to the environment.
