Air Pollution Levels Around The World Are Back To Pre-Pandemic Levels, Due To China, Says Study
The only good thing that probably happened in 2020 was how the pollution levels came down. The year of the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the world to go into shutdown meant that there was less traffic on the road, and factories remained shut, leading to fewer pollutants in the air and water.
Many had hoped that the dramatic improvement in air and water quality would stay even after the lockdown ended, and lives went back to normal.
Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case, not just in India, but around the world.
Back to square one?
A group of scientists who track heat-trapping gases that cause climate change has said that the first nine months of this year put emissions a tad under 2019 levels.
They estimate that in 2021 the world will have spewed 36.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, compared to 36.7 billion metric tons two years ago.
At the height of the pandemic last year, emissions were down to 34.8 billion metric tons, so this year's jump is 4.9%, according to updated calculations by Global Carbon Project.
China to blame?
The study found that it was the pollution leave increase in China, due to the use of coal that pushed the worldwide figures back to 2019 levels.
"What the carbon emissions numbers show is that emissions (correcting for the drop and recovery from COVID-19) have basically flattened now. That's the good news," said Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann, who wasn't part of the report.
"The bad news is that's not enough. We need to start bringing (emissions) down."
Emissions in China were 7% higher in 2021 when compared to 2019, the study said.
By comparison, India's emissions were only 3% higher.
In contrast, the United States, the European Union and the rest of the world polluted less this year than in 2019.
"If the world is going to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times, it has only 11 years left at current emission levels before it is too late," the paper said.
The world has warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since the late 1800s.
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