Near-real-time monitoring of global CO2 emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Zhu Liu (1) , Philippe Ciais (2, 3) , Zhu Deng (1) , Ruixue Lei , Steven Davis , Sha Feng , Bo Zheng (2) , Duo Cui (1) , Xinyu Dou (1) , Biqing Zhu (1) , Rui Guo (1) , Piyu Ke (1) , Taochun Sun (1) , Chenxi Lu (1) , Pan He (1) , Yuan Wang , Xu Yue , Yilong Wang , Yadong Lei , Hao Zhou , Zhaonan Cai , Yuhui Wu , Runtao Guo , Tingxuan Han , Jinjun Xue , Olivier Boucher (4) , Eulalie Boucher (5) , Frederic Chevallier (2, 6) , Katsumasa Tanaka (2) , Yimin Wei , Haiwang Zhong , Chongqing Kang , Ning Zhang , Bin Chen , Fengming Xi , Miaomiao Liu , Francois-Marie Breon (2, 6) , Yonglong Lu , Qiang Zhang (1) , Dabo Guan (1) , Peng Gong (1) , Daniel Kammen , Kebin He , Hans Joachim Schellnhuber (1)

1 THU - Tsinghua University [Beijing]
2 LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]
3 ICOS-ATC - ICOS-ATC
4 IPSL (FR_636) - Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace
5 Université Paris Dauphine-PSL
6 SATINV - Modélisation INVerse pour les mesures atmosphériques et SATellitaires

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting human activities, and in turn energy use and carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions. Here we present daily estimates of country-level CO 2 emissions for different sectors based on near-real-time activity data. The key result is an abrupt 8.8% decrease in global CO 2 emissions (−1551 Mt CO 2) in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The magnitude of this decrease is larger than during previous economic downturns or World War II. The timing of emissions decreases corresponds to lockdown measures in each country. By July 1st, the pandemic's effects on global emissions diminished as lockdown restrictions relaxed and some economic activities restarted, especially in China and several European countries, but substantial differences persist between countries, with continuing emission declines in the U.S. where coronavirus cases are still increasing substantially.

Domaines: Océan, Atmosphère; Interfaces continentales, environnement

Zhu Liu, Philippe Ciais, Zhu Deng, Ruixue Lei, Steven Davis, et al.. Near-real-time monitoring of global CO2 emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nature Communications, 2020, 11 (1), ⟨10.1038/s41467-020-18922-7⟩. ⟨hal-02975812⟩