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Tokyo: The Covid-19 pandemic has affected global socioeconomic activity, leading to a significant reduction in CO2 (FFCO2) emissions from fossil fuels and other anthropogenic air pollutants around the world, say the researchers, including one of Indian origin. .
This situation offered a unique opportunity to assess the ability to quantify changes in regional FFCO2 emissions using atmospheric observations, says the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports.
However, there are few reports of observational evidence for reducing CO2 emissions due to the Covid-19 blockade, although a large number of publications have reported short-lived reductions in air pollutants from various parts of the world.
In the study, the research team analyzed atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and CH4 observed at Hateruma Island, Japan, and found signs of the reduction of FFCO2 in China caused by the restrictions associated with the Covid-19 outbreak in January-March. 2020.
“We have estimated that FFCO2 emissions decreased by around 20% in January-February 2020 as a result of measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in China and the outside world,” said study author Prabir K Patra from Japan Marine-Earth Science and Technology Agency (JAMSTEC) in Japan.
Although a significant reduction in air pollutants has been reported, documents on atmospheric signals of FFCO2 reduction have yet to be found in the published literature.
“The size of the atmospheric CO2 reservoir is quite large and the atmospheric CO2 has a relatively long lifespan. These characteristics make the change in atmospheric CO2 concentrations caused by the Covid-19 flu rather small, “Patra added.
To detect such faint signals in CO2 changes, the research team focused on the relative change in atmospheric CO2 and CH4 observed on Hateruma Island over the past 20 years at daily time intervals.
The research team found that the monthly average ratio of changes in atmospheric CO2 to CH4 in January, February and March tracked the annual increase in FFCO2 emissions from China over the period 1997-2019.
However, reports showed significant reductions in February and March 2020, which coincided with the lockdown period in China.
“The relationship between the variation ratio and FFCO2 emissions from China should be assessed using an atmospheric transport model and a set of CO2 and CH4 flux maps,” noted the study authors.
(IANS)
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