A new study has shown global carbon dioxide emissions fell by 8.8 per cent in the first six months of this year, the biggest ever drop for a first half-year period, due to the effects of coronavirus-related restrictions.
Research published in the journal Nature Communications by a group of scientists from China, France, Japan and the United States, said emissions fell by 1551 million tonnes or 8.8 per cent in the first half of the year, compared to the same period last year.
Reuters Newsagency report the 8.8 per cent reduction represents largest ever fall in emissions over the first half year, larger than for any economic downturn.
The drop was also larger than the annual decrease during World War Two, although mean emissions are much bigger now than at that time.
The scientists used data based on real-time activity and analysed the daily, weekly and seasonal trends of CO2 emissions before and after the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn it triggered.
Reuters reports from the first quarter of this year, governments around the world imposed lockdowns to contain the COVID-19 pandemic which curtailed energy use for industrial production and transport.
This resulted in greenhouse gas emissions declining.
Warmer-than-usual weather across much of the northern hemisphere also meant that emissions were somewhat lower than they would have been in the same period of last year.
The study said the fall in daily CO2 emissions was most pronounced in April when the toughest restrictions were in place.
Daily emissions, extrapolated from data such as electricity generation in 31 countries, vehicle traffic in more than 400 cities, and industrial output in 62 nations, were down 16.9 per cent versus April 2019, the researchers said.
Emissions began to recover in late April and May as economic activity resumed in China and parts of Europe.
However, falls in transport-related emissions persisted.
“By July 1, the pandemic’s effects on global emissions diminished as lockdown restrictions relaxed and some economic activities restarted, especially in China and several European countries,” the paper said.
“However, substantial differences persist between countries, with continuing emission declines in the United States where coronavirus cases are still increasing substantially,” it added.
“While the CO2 drop is unprecedented, decreases of human activities cannot be the answer,” said Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founding director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and one of the report’s authors.
“Instead we need structural and transformational changes in our energy production and consumption systems,” Professor Schellnhuber said.
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