Will SARS-CoV-2 have a long-term impact on the climate?

Enlarge / China has seen pollution levels plunge. (credit: NASA)

COVID-19 is bad for human activity and enterprise. Human activity and enterprise is bad for the environment. So, since our present situation reduces human activity and enterprise, is COVID-19 good for the environment?

The cessation of manufacturing and transportation in Hubei Province has caused a drop in air pollution levels all over China so dramatic-emissions were estimated to be down 25 percent-that the relative dearth of both nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide in the air can be observed from space. Most of the effect came from a sharp drop in coal burning, which still provides the bulk of energy in China. Coal is used to heat homes in rural areas there, but also to fuel power plants and industry.

However, pollution-much like the virus itself-may come roaring back after the lockdowns are lifted. This "revenge pollution" can easily negate the temporary drop in emissions we are now seeing. That's exactly what happened in China in 2009, when the Chinese government responded to the global financial crisis with an enormous stimulus package that funded large-scale infrastructure-type projects.

Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments