There is a first for everything and for the first time researchers have found short-term regional fluctuations in atmospheric carbon dioxide worldwide due to emissions from human activities. Scientists used a combination of NASA satellites and atmospheric modeling to discover this change in Carbon Dioxide emissions. The study used data from NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 to measure drops in CO2 emissions during the COVID-19 pandemic from space.
A few earlier studies investigated the effects of lockdowns on the levels of Carbon Dioxide emissions early in the pandemic. The studies found that global levels dropped slightly in 2020. Nonetheless, by combining OCO-2’s high-resolution data with modeling and data analysis tools from NASA’s Goddard Earth Observing System the team was able to narrow down which monthly changes were due to human activity and which were due to natural causes at a regional scale. This is how they were able to conclude that some of the drops in Carbon Dioxide levels were caused by human activities. The article goes on to explain what Carbon Dioxide is, and how to notice slight changes in its level in the atmosphere.
Matthew, I think you bring up an interesting study (I read these pages too), but I also think that the implications of this study are controversial in the sense that if we plan as a society to mitigate CO2 emissions there are some who might fight back against such totalitarian measures if that’s the way we decide to vote.
This reminds me of the early days of the pandemic when we saw many wild animals taking over urban and city environments.
I recalled these studies as being the most hopeful news during the pandemic. In China specifically, it was the first time many people saw a blue sky in many years. I wonder how much we reduce CO2 during the pandemic year and whether or not these changes are sustainable or not