Greenhouse Gas Emission: Perception during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The period 2020/2021 was an unprecedented and historic time for industrial, economic, and societal activities all over the world with great challenges to human health, the ecosystems, and other aspects of human endeavors owing to the COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 (CV-19) pandemic which is now a topical aspect of research interest. Despite the negative impacts of the CV-19 pandemic, there are also positive reports during the CV-19 pandemic such as the reduction of gas flare, reduction in the burning of fossil fuels from automobile exhaust and a reduction in the other ensuing factors of greenhouse gases emissions (which is one of the major drives for global warming and climate change as well as other environmental effluences). Hence, this brief perspective review study is centered on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. The study employs a methodical approach to analyze some already available research studies from existing publications and databases on GHG emission using the perception during the CV-19 pandemic. The specific findings from this review show that, from the meteorological perspective, the global response to the catastrophe ensuing from the CV-19 pandemic has a great influence on the reduction of GHGs, the reduction in the burning of fossil fuels from automobiles and industrial devices, and the reduction in the other ensuing factors of GHG emission. Hence, it will not be far from the truth to conclude that there is a possible positive connection between the CV-19 pandemic and GHG emissions. The study has a direct impact on the environment owing to the negative and positive environmental consequences of the CV-19 pandemic. Suggestions and recommendations in the form of future prospects of GHG emission vis-à-vis global warming and climate change are also discussed. Furthermore, suggestions on how to improve food security and agriculture during a pandemic such as the CV-19 outbreak period are highlighted.

The Impacts Of COVID-19 Pandemic on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change

“…There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact globally, leading to numerous deaths and economic struggles due to lockdown measures (Ukhurebor, 2022). However, one potential benefit of the pandemic is the opportunity it provides to study atmospheric CO2 levels during a period of global lockdown.…”

“…China's large, energy-intensive manufacturing sector is a significant source of carbon dioxide emissions. As China's population increases, so does the demand for manufactured goods, leading to an increase in the energy used in manufacturing, which in turn leads to an increase in carbon dioxide emissions (Ukhurebor, 2022). In the United States, by contrast, the correlation between annual carbon dioxide emissions and population is very low, mainly because the United States emits relatively much carbon dioxide per person compared to China.…”

A perspective overview of the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the educational sector

“…Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a form of viral disease mostly brought on by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a pandemic on March 11, 2020, despite the fact that it was first discovered in Wuhan, China, towards the end of 2019 (Ukhurebor et al, 2021;Ukhurebor et al, 2022;Paladhi et al, 2023). The pandemic that followed severely affected the majority of the world's regions as various medical facilities were overwhelmed by a large number of ill individuals in the major healthcare facilities (Kumar et al, 2021;Ukhurebor et al, 2021).…”

Exploring the academic perceptions of climate engineering in developing countries

“…Long-term global warming targets were established by the 2015 Paris Agreement, which called for keeping the rise in global temperatures well below 2.0 ºC and ideally below 1.5 ºC above preindustrial levels (Sugiyama et al, 2020). Nevertheless, the global community is still struggling to figure out how to accomplish these lofty goals as the impacts of climate change (CC) are still very evident (Ukhurebor et al, 2020(Ukhurebor et al, , 2022Ukhurebor and Aidonojie, 2021). Because the current level of mitigation efforts is deemed insufficient, some experts advocate for more extreme strategies such as climate engineering (CE), which refers to a broad category of direct manipulations in the global climate system to combat global warming (NRC, 2015a, b;UNEP, 2018;Aldy et al, 2021;Dai et al, 2021;Táíwò and Talati, 2021;Schubert, 2022).…”