![\"\"](\"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/CO2-2020.png\")
\n\n\n\n\n\n\nby SETH BORENSTEIN<\/strong> (4-26-20)\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nKENSINGTON, MARYLAND<\/strong>\u00a0 The world cut its daily carbon dioxide emissions by 17% at the peak of the pandemic shutdown last month, a new study found.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nBut with life and heat-trapping gas levels inching back toward normal, the brief pollution break will likely be \u201ca drop in the ocean\u201d when it comes to climate change, scientists said.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIn their study of carbon dioxide emissions during the coronavirus pandemic, an international team of scientists calculated that pollution levels are heading back up \u2013 and for the year will end up between 4% and 7% lower than 2019 levels. That\u2019s still the biggest annual drop in carbon emissions since World War II.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIt\u2019ll be 7% if the strictest lockdown rules remain all year long across much of the globe, 4% if they are lifted soon.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nFor a week in April, the United States cut its carbon dioxide levels by about one-third. China, the world\u2019s biggest emitter of heat-trapping gases, sliced its carbon pollution by nearly a quarter in February, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Climate Change. India and Europe cut emissions by 26% and 27% respectively.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe biggest global drop was from April 4 through 9 when the world was spewing 18.7 million tons of carbon pollution a day less than it was doing on New Year\u2019s Day.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nSuch low global emission levels haven\u2019t been recorded since 2006. But if the world returns to its slowly increasing pollution levels next year, the temporary reduction amounts to \u2018\u2019a drop in the ocean,\u201d said study lead author Corinne LeQuere, a climate scientist at the University of East Anglia.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s like you have a bath filled with water and you\u2019re turning off the tap for 10 seconds,\u201d she said.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nBy April 30, the world carbon pollution levels had grown by 3.3 million tons a day from its low point earlier in the month. Carbon dioxide stays in the air for about a century.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nOutside experts praised the study as the most comprehensive yet, saying it shows how much effort is needed to prevent dangerous levels of further global warming.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cThat underscores a simple truth: Individual behavior alone \u2026 won\u2019t get us there,\u201d Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann, who wasn\u2019t part of the study, said in an email. \u201cWe need fundamental structural change.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIf the world could keep up annual emission cuts like this without a pandemic for a couple decades, there\u2019s a decent chance Earth can avoid warming another 1.8 degrees of warming from now, study authors said. But getting the type of yearly cuts to reach that international goal is unlikely, they said.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIf next year returns to 2019 pollution levels, it means the world has only bought about a year\u2019s delay in hitting the extra 1.8 degrees of warming that leaders are trying to avoid, LeQuere said. That level could still occur anywhere from 2050 to 2070, the authors said.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe study was carried out by Global Carbon Project, a consortium of international scientists that produces the authoritative annual estimate of carbon dioxide emissions. They looked at 450 databases showing daily energy use and introduced a measurement scale for pandemic-related societal \u201cconfinement\u201d in its estimates.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nNearly half the emission reductions came from less transportation pollution, mostly involving cars and trucks, the authors said. By contrast, the study found that drastic reductions in air travel only accounted for 10% of the overall pollution drop.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIn the U.S., the biggest pollution declines were seen in California and Washington, which recorded plunges of more than 40%.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by SETH BORENSTEIN (4-26-20) KENSINGTON, MARYLAND\u00a0 The world cut its daily carbon dioxide emissions by 17% at the peak of the pandemic shutdown last month, a new study found. But with life and heat-trapping gas levels inching back toward normal, … Continue reading