Observed Impacts of COVID‐19 on Urban CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions

Turner, Alexander J.; Kim, Jinsol; Fitzmaurice, Helen; Newman, Catherine; Worthington, Kevin; Chan, Katherine; Wooldridge, P. J.; Köehler, Philipp; Frankenberg, Christian; Cohen, R. C.

doi:10.1029/2020gl090037

Cited by 71 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Bottom-up estimates using sector activity have estimated global CO 2 emissions reductions of 8.8% during the first 5 months of 2020 (Liu et al, 2020) and annual reductions from 4% to 7% (Le Quéré et al, 2020). Top-down assessments have found some indications of a decrease in CO 2 growth rate during 2020 (Buchwitz et al, 2020), with examples of substantial local and regional CO 2 and methane (CH 4 ) emissions reductions inferred from surface observations (Tohjima et al, 2020;Turner et al, 2020). However, existing satellite products could not provide the required coverage to reliably detect changes in CO 2 column densities at the magnitude expected to be occurring in 2020 (Buchwitz et al, 2020;Chevallier et al, 2020).…”

Section: Impact Of Covid-19 Lockdown On Emissionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Climate Response to Emissions Reductions Due to COVID‐19: Initial Results From CovidMIP

Jones

Hickman

Rumbold

et al. 2021

Geophysical Research Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many nations responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by restricting travel and other activities during 2020, resulting in temporarily reduced emissions of CO 2 , other greenhouse gases and ozone and aerosol precursors. We present the initial results from a coordinated Intercomparison, CovidMIP, of Earth system model simulations which assess the impact on climate of these emissions reductions. Twelve models performed multiple initial-condition ensembles to produce over 300 simulations spanning both initial condition and model structural uncertainty. We find model consensus on reduced aerosol amounts (particularly over southern and eastern Asia) and associated increases in surface shortwave radiation levels. However, any impact on near-surface temperature or rainfall during 2020-2024 is extremely small and is not detectable in this initial analysis. Regional analyses on a finer scale, and closer attention to extremes (especially linked to changes in atmospheric composition and air quality) are required to test the impact of COVID-19-related emission reductions on near-term climate. Plain Language Summary Many nations responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by restricting travel and other activities during 2020. This caused a temporary reduction in emissions of CO 2 and other pollutants. We compare results from twelve Earth system models to see if the emissions reductions affected climate. These twelve models performed over 300 experiments using multiple initial-conditions. We find a consensus that aerosol amounts were reduced, especially over southern and eastern Asia, during 2020-2024. This led to increases in solar radiation reaching the surface in this region. However, we could not detect any associated impact on temperature or rainfall. We recommend more analyses on regional scales. We also suggest that analysis of extreme weather and air quality would be useful to test the impact on climate of emission reductions due to COVID-19.

show abstract

Section: Impact Of Covid-19 Lockdown On Emissionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Climate Response to Emissions Reductions Due to COVID‐19: Initial Results From CovidMIP

Jones

Hickman

Rumbold

et al. 2021

Geophysical Research Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although the comparison of the five stages in the first quarter of 2020, and the month-to-month comparison between 2020 and 2019 show an apparent influence of COVID-19 measures, these results include both natural carbon cycle variability and meteorological conditions. Quantifying and attributing changes in CO 2 concentrations requires accounting for meteorological effects in addition to direct emissions ( Turner et al, 2020 ). We did this by determining the difference between CO 2 excess-est and CO 2 excess-obs , as explained next.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Liu et al (2020b) reported decreases in on-road CO 2 concentrations in Beijing during COVID-19 with six on-road observations using mobile platforms. Turner et al (2020) observed a 5-50 ppm decrease in midweek CO 2 concentrations during rush hour monitoring in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, the response of averaged atmospheric CO 2 concentration to the lockdown on an urban scale is still unknown ( Pigliautile et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on atmospheric CO2 in Xi'an, China

Zhou

Xiong

et al. 2021

Environmental Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…For example, cities in China saw reductions in NO X emissions by 20%–50% during shutdown periods ( Ding et al , 2020 ). Similarly, CO 2 emissions in the San Francisco Bay Area decreased by roughly 30% following shelter-in-place orders ( Turner et al , 2020 ). Ambient seismic noise in the 4–14 Hz range lessened globally, with the most intense effects in populous areas ( Lecocq et al , 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring changes in human activity during the COVID-19 shutdown in Las Vegas using infrasound microbarometers

Bird

Bowman

Seastrand

et al. 2021

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While studies of urban acoustics are typically restricted to the audio range, anthropogenic activity also generates infrasound (<20 Hz, roughly at the lower end of the range of human hearing). Shutdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic unintentionally created ideal conditions for the study of urban infrasound and low frequency audio (20–500 Hz), as closures reduced human-generated ambient noise, while natural signals remained relatively unaffected. An array of infrasound sensors deployed in Las Vegas, NV, provides data for a case study in monitoring human activity during the pandemic through urban acoustics. The array records a sharp decline in acoustic power following the temporary shutdown of businesses deemed nonessential by the state of Nevada. This decline varies spatially across the array, with stations close to McCarran International Airport generally recording the greatest declines in acoustic power. Further, declines in acoustic power fluctuate with the time of day. As only signals associated with anthropogenic activity are expected to decline, this gives a rough indication of periodicities in urban acoustics throughout Las Vegas. The results of this study reflect the city's response to the pandemic and suggest spatiotemporal trends in acoustics outside of shutdowns.

show abstract

Observed Impacts of COVID‐19 on Urban CO₂ Emissions

Cited by 71 publications

References 20 publications

The Climate Response to Emissions Reductions Due to COVID‐19: Initial Results From CovidMIP

The Climate Response to Emissions Reductions Due to COVID‐19: Initial Results From CovidMIP

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on atmospheric CO2 in Xi'an, China

Monitoring changes in human activity during the COVID-19 shutdown in Las Vegas using infrasound microbarometers

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Observed Impacts of COVID‐19 on Urban CO2 Emissions

Cited by 71 publications

References 20 publications

The Climate Response to Emissions Reductions Due to COVID‐19: Initial Results From CovidMIP

The Climate Response to Emissions Reductions Due to COVID‐19: Initial Results From CovidMIP

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on atmospheric CO2 in Xi'an, China

Monitoring changes in human activity during the COVID-19 shutdown in Las Vegas using infrasound microbarometers

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Observed Impacts of COVID‐19 on Urban CO₂ Emissions