Published on April 3, 2020
A small silver lining of coronavirus social distancing measures is we are likely experiencing a temporary drop in emissions, experts say.
NASA satellite images show significant drops in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the air above China after lockdowns went into effect. Similar satellite imagery from the European Space Agency shows reductions in Italy, which is also keeping people home to control the deadly virus’ spread.
Amy Snover, director of the Climate Impacts Group and university director of the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center at the University of Washington, said the northwest is likely experiencing some reduction in emissions as states put “stay home” orders in place.
“Basically, we’re not using our fossil fuel infrastructure as much as we typically do,” Snover said.
She said we likely won’t notice quite as steep a drop as China, because we have more clean power sources in place. But taking thousands of cars off the road still has a big impact.
There is some research out there on a “rebound effect” – emissions coming back higher after an event like this, as folks try to jumpstart the economy and industry. Snover said that’s tough to predict, but she would expect a quick return to at least previous levels.
But there is something that has her hopeful: many businesses worked to find creative solutions for remote work during this time, and if some of those lessons remain after coronavirus, we could be at least slightly better off than before.
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Originally written by Michael Crowe for King5 News.