As countries begin to emerge from lockdowns, the full impact of coronavirus containment measures on the environment is becoming clear – including 11,000 fewer deaths from air pollution in Europe alone.
With more than half of the world’s population under lockdown in late April, emissions from road and air traffic plummeted. Reduced energy demand more generally also saw a drop in output from fossil fuel power stations.
Recent data from multiple environmental organisations has revealed a massive drop in CO2 emissions in 2020, showing that the coronavirus pandemic has caused the biggest carbon crash on record.
Data from Carbon Brief and the International Energy Agency (IEA) reveal the unprecedented scale of the emissions decline, which is six-times larger than the previous record reduction that followed the 2007-2008 Financial Crisis.
Projected figures for 2020 forecast the biggest ever percentage drop in CO2 emissions – more than any previous war or global economic crisis.
Read more at the Independent
