CORONA AND ITS EFFECT ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Just few
months ago it would have been thought impossible to close polluting factories
virtually overnight and slash emissions from travel by keeping billions at
home. Now we know that clear skies and silent streets can come about with
shocking speed.
The corona pandemic is a cataclysmic event so big and disruptive
that it can be measured in the planetary metrics of climate change. As many as 2.6 billion
metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, about 8% of the estimated
total for the year, will never be emitted into the atmosphere, according to
estimates by the International Energy Agency. Pick any world-shaking event from
20th century history—none has produced a bigger decrease in emissions.
 |
| forcast for drop on carbon emission |
70 percent of the world's infectious diseases have
come from the natural environment, with many from animal-to-human contact
Covid-19
Covid-19 is a respiratory illness that can cause pneumonia and result in severe,
long-lasting lung damage. People infected with the novel coronavirus are more
likely to die if they live in regions with high levels of pollution, according
to two different
studies. These early
findings resonate with pre-pandemic research linking pollution to a long list
of diseases.
(Learn more about corona virus, its symptoms, causes, and daignosed@https://thinkingmindblogaddress.blogspot.com/2020/07/corona-virus-its-causes-symptoms-and.html)
Air pollution increases the risk of other illnesses like
heart disease and respiratory issues, something that has had a direct impact on
those suffering during the coronavirus outbreak. About one in eight deaths
around the world are caused by air pollution.
Most infectious
diseases the world has had to deal with over the last few decades have come
from the natural environment. "So it's very clear that the damage that
we're doing to the natural world does make it more likely that these diseases
will emerge," said Dr. Campbell-Lendrum.
Evidence shows that
COVID-19 was a zoonotic event that jumped from animal to
humans. Many of the infectious diseases like SARS and even HIV were transmitted
by animal to human contact, coming out of the natural environment.
"So when we
damage the natural environment, when we overexploit it, and then when we don't
monitor what's happening to infections in wildlife and infections in domestic
animals and infections in humans, we're basically leaving ourselves open to
these-these risks," said Dr. Campbell-Lendrum.
EFFECTS OF COVID-19 LOCK DOWN
AND ON CLIMATE
- 59% less traffic
congestion in Mumbai, India
With
fewer planes in the air and cars on roads, demand for oil dropped by 5% in the
first quarter of the year. By the end of March, when nationwide lockdowns
started, global road transport activity had almost halved the 2019 average.
air
quality has largely improved due to the coronavirus outbreak. It took weeks, not years, for skies in polluted cities to clear as emissions dropped. People in smog-choked towns in India shared photos of the suddenly visible
Himalayas, which had been obscured by pollution.
While the coronavirus has
had devastating impacts around the globe, it has also led to a decrease
in air pollution. In the northeastern United States, air pollution
dropped by 30 percent in March, and countries like India, China and Italy have
experienced similar decreases.
NEW DELHI: The coronavirus-triggered lockdown has led to a
steep fall in global carbon emissions by 17 per cent in early
April as compared to 2019 levels with India's emissions dropping by 26 per
cent, according to a study.
 |
| decreasing pollution in india amidst crisis |
Besides India, other countries like the UK and the US reduced
30.7 per cent and 31.6 per cent emissions, respectively. In China, the
emissions reduced by 23.9 per cent, the study revealed.
An international study published in the UK-based journal National Climate Change showed that the world experienced a sharp decline in carbon emissions between January and April, compared to average levels in 2019, and could decline anywhere between 4.4 per cent to 8 per cent by the end of this year.
In
Europe, flight activity has dropped more than 80% in major hubs such as the
U.K., France, Spain and Germany, according to Europe’s Eurocontrol agency. Daily flights between Europe and the U.S. have come
down to 90, from 485 before the pandemic. Over 16,000 passenger jets have been grounded worldwide, leaving airlines
scrambling for spaces to store them.
"The first peer-reviewed analysis of the drop in carbon emissions during the COVID-19 lockdown has shown that daily emissions decreased by 17 per cent or 17 million tonnes of carbon dioxide globally during the peak of the confinement on April 7, dropping to levels last observed in 2006.
"Emissions from land transport accounted for almost half (43 per cent) of the decrease, while power generation accounted for 19 per cent, industry for 25 per cent and aviation for 10 per cent," it said.
The study confirmed that the impact of the confinement on annual emissions in 2020 is likely to lead to the largest single annual decrease in absolute emissions since the end of World War II.
"The UNEP report says decreases in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 2.7 per cent per year are needed to keep warming well below 2 degrees Celsius and 7.6 per cent per year to keep below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
"But the decrease in emissions this year will not do much to impact climate change, as it is extremely small compared to the emissions accumulated so far, and compared to the emissions cuts needed to tackle climate change," the study said.
Eonomic
comebacks during global pandemic crisis
The
comeback of economic activity when lockdowns ease might wipe out these changes
as fast as they happened. The first signs are visible in China and some countries, where cities
have relaxed quarantine rules, factories have restarted and people have returned
to work. That turnabout is good news—and it can be measured almost immediately
in bad news for the planet.
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon