Coronavirus pandemic brought life to a halt in many regions across the world. The reduced human activities were bound to have an effect on the level of carbon dioxide reduction in the Earth¡¯s atmosphere. Scientists, however, now point out that this change is just not enough to save the planet.
A research by scientists from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) monitors the reduction in the CO2 during the global lockdown this year. The idea is to match it to the extended emission goals as per the Paris Climate Agreement. Sadly enough, the reduction in emissions this year might not even make a mark.
The report points out that the current data measured in the energy, industry, and mobility sectors results in an estimated reduction of up to eight percent in worldwide carbon dioxide emissions this year. Based on this figure, the research highlights that cumulative reductions of around the same magnitude will be required every year to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement by 2030.
The study also mentions that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has not yet changed as per the estimated emission reductions. "In spite of the reduced emissions, our measurements show that CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has not yet decreased," says Ralf Sussmann from the Atmospheric Environmental Research Division of KIT's Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research.?
"To reduce CO2 concentration in the atmosphere in the long run, restrictions imposed during the corona pandemic would have to be continued for decades. But even this would be far from being sufficient," Sussmann adds.
The ideal, or the only way to achieve the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement (restricting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius) is to keep on increasing this control on carbon emissions multifold every year. The eight percent reduction has to be increased to a complete 100 percent by 2055 for the same.
Sussman points out that while the corona-related restrictions resulted in a one-time reduction by eight percent, cumulative reductions of the same magnitude would be required every year to reach the target. This means a reduction of 16 percent in 2021, 24 percent in 2022, and so on.