By Praneeth Palli
The COVID-19 pandemic is having an effect on human activities, such as energy use and CO2 emissions. For the first time, a NASA study found regional changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) due to human activities during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The scientists reportedly assessed CO2 emissions from orbit during the outbreak using a combination of NASA satellites and atmospheric modeling, including data from NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2). Previous research examined the effects of early pandemic lockdowns and discovered that global CO2 levels declined marginally in 2020.
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 determine which monthly changes were due to human activity and which were due to natural causes on a regional scale (GEOS).
According to the team’s research, human-caused CO2 concentrations in the Northern Hemisphere declined from February to May 2020. It recovered over the summer, resulting in a 3–13% year-over-year decline in global emissions. According to the team, researchers examining the regional impact of climate change and monitoring the outcomes of mitigation efforts might profit from the findings.
Effects on atmospheric CO2 levels can be identified within a month or two after their occurrence, providing timely, actionable knowledge about the changing nature of human and natural emissions. As a result of the Covid epidemic, fewer vehicles and other means of transportation were on the road, leading to considerable decreases in greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions into the environment.
However, as Lesley Ott, a research meteorologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, pointed out, a “rapid fall” in CO2 must be evaluated in context.
Due to the fact that this gas may remain in the atmosphere for up to a century after it is released, short-term changes in the global carbon cycle may be lost. The global carbon cycle is a series of absorption and release events that involves both natural and human activity. The early 2020 CO2 lockdowns account for a negligible portion of the year’s total CO2 emissions.
In late 2019 and early 2020, the IOD experienced a significant positive phase, resulting in a bountiful crop season in Sub-Saharan Africa and contributing to Australia’s record-breaking fire season. According to the researchers, these incidences had a major effect on the carbon cycle, making it more difficult to spot the signal of Covid lockdowns.
Source: Mashable India
