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2020 Saw a Historic Drop in Emissions, But It Can’t Last
Preliminary research shows emissions dropped by more than 10%
Greenhouse gas emissions dropped by more than 10% in the U.S. in 2020 due to efforts to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, according to a preliminary report published by the independent research company Rhodium Group on Tuesday.
It was the single largest drop in annual emissions in the post-World War II era, the group reports. And, they say, the global shutdowns brought global emissions levels below 1990 levels for the first time.
“2020 was an unusual year — in more ways than we can count — with lives upended by a global pandemic and its economic fallout,” the group says in its report. “Across the U.S., measures put in place to slow the pace of infection affected all aspects of American life, reducing travel, altering demand for goods and services, and resulting in record-high unemployment.”
Still, as I reported in Future Human and OneZero last year, the drop in emissions from Covid-19-related shutdowns is temporary. Experts told me that we need more than short-term individual lifestyle changes to slow the pace of climate change.
