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as the corona virus pandemic grips the
world the priority is to save lives as
governments respond to the crisis with
lockdowns and we travel less and consume
fewer goods there are unintended
benefits for the environment we've all
seen the clips of animals taking over
empty towns and cities but the
environmental impact has been so much
bigger than that
nitrous oxide levels are harmful
pollution caused by traffic they have
been down around 40% in its least second
largest city Milan when compared to this
time last year it's the same in cities
across the world carbon dioxide levels
have also dropped as countries produced
fewer goods and use less energy carbon
dioxide is the main cause of global
warming
China is the world's largest emitter
pumping out nearly twice as much as the
next country on the list the u.s. yes in
February at the height of the
coronavirus crisis in China carbon
emissions were 25% lower than the
previous year
and burning of coal one of the worst
fossil fuels contributing to climate
change was 36 percent lower so this is
some much-needed good news right now and
gives us a glimpse into what a healthier
planet could look like in Beijing the
usually smog filled sky has been blue
and clear but it's more than that air
pollution is one of the most deadly
environmental killers globally it's
estimated to cause 7 million deaths a
year and shorten our lives by three
years if these reductions could be made
permanent perhaps they could be lasting
benefits for everyone so could our
reliance on fossil fuels remain lower
after the crisis improving air quality
and reducing global warming based on
what we've seen in the past it doesn't
look likely during the global recession
of 2008 emissions also fell yet US
companies and governments try to
re-energize the economy after the
initial collapse emissions rose much
faster than they normally would have and
this could also be the case today
the world's focus is now on making sure
that this crisis affects as few families
as possible and that there are jobs and
security for everybody when this finally
ends there is also less focus on
protecting the environment there was
going to be a big conference on how to
tackle climate change in Scotland later
this year that's has been postponed
fewer police and officials are available
for normal duties which means vulnerable
habitats such as the Amazon jungle are
under threat from illegal logging and
land clearances
unlike many industries work on renewable
energy projects has stopped running 2020
will now be the first year that solar
power will contribute less to the
world's power this virus has created a
difficult and testing time for everyone
surviving it is the priority but once
we've done that we could have a chance
to avoid repeating the environmental
mistakes of the past
you
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