The coronavirus pandemic has led to an “unprecedented decline” in global carbon emissions, a new report says. Worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide – the greenhouse gas most responsible for global warming – are forecast to drop about 8% in 2020, a record annual decline that’s due to COVID-19 lockdowns. An 8% cut in emissions is roughly equivalent to the annual emissions reductions needed to limit global warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial temperatures, according to Carbon Brief. However, the target laid out in the Paris Agreement would require similar reductions every year this decade, not just for one year.
By Doyle Rice. USA TODAY. April 30, 2020.
