Researchers from University of East Anglia (UEA), University of Exeter and the Global Carbon Project announced in a study released Friday, that global greenhouse gas emissions had a record drop in 2020 in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic due to lockdown measures and reduced human activities, reported The Hill.
According to the study, greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 around the world totaled 2.4 billion tons, a 7 percent decrease from 2019 and the largest drop recorded.
Decreased usage of oil in transportation and coil in electricity production due to the pandemic restrictions accelerated the drops in carbon emissions, noted the researchers.
The largest drop in carbon emissions had the U.S. with 12, and the E.U. followed with an 11 percent drop.
The largest share of the decrease accounted the emission from transportation, especially the “surface transportation,” that during the height of the coronavirus lockdown measures dropped by approximately half, stated the report.
Road transportation and aviation emissions dropped below their 2019 levels, by 10 and 40 percent, respectively, by December 2020.
These findings come just one day before the fifth anniversary of the United Nations Paris Agreement adoption, in which countries committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming, is noted in the study.
President Donald Trump announced in 2017 that he would pull the U.S. out of the agreement, due to unfair terms for workers and businesses in America.
Despite the decrease in 2020, the emissions of greenhouse gas in 2021 will be dependent on the government actions in response to the pandemic, taking in consideration the need for economic growth, said the researchers in the study.
“All elements are not yet in place for sustained decreases in global emission, and emissions are slowly edging back to 2019 levels,” said Corinne Le Quéré, professor at the UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences.
“Government actions to stimulate the economy at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic can also help lower emissions and tackle climate change. Incentives that help accelerate the deployment of electric cars and renewable energy and support walking and cycling in cities are particularly timely given the extensive disturbance observed in the transport sector this year,” added the researcher.
Experts also noted that in 2020 the climate change strongly influenced on the record amount of wildfires that damaged the land in the Western part of the U.S., and that this year was the most active Atlantic hurricane season, damaging Louisiana, Gulf Coast states, as well as countries in Central America.
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