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Researchers said itâs too early to predict how much emissions will rebound in 2021 and beyond, but they expect emissions will increase as people begin to travel more frequently after the pandemic. âOf course, lockdown is absolutely not the way to tackle climate change,â report coauthor Corinne Le Quere, a climate scientist at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, said in a statement. The increase in emissions will be largely influenced by government actions to stimulate the global economy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic without continuing growth in carbon emissions by, for example, increasing factory production. In addition to larger industry changes, researchers also say that individual efforts to alter our own behavior and decrease our carbon footprint can make a monumental impact.
World carbon dioxide emissions drop 7% in pandemic-hit 2020 union-bulletin.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from union-bulletin.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions dropped by 7% this year, the biggest annual drop ever recorded since World War II, as most countries imposed lockdowns and restrictions to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Still, this isn’t the way to deal with climate change. Emissions are likely to rebound next year, and experts are calling for a sustainable and drastic cut to emissions, not a one-time accident.
The empty streets of Toronto, Canada during the pandemic. Image credit: Flickr / Roozbeh Rokni
The coronavirus pandemic led to a decline in emissions of 2.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, according to the annual assessment of the Global Carbon Project. This was much more significant than other drops in recent history, such as the end of World War Two (0.9 billion metric tons) or the global financial crisis in 2009 (0.5 billion tons)
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