Corona - a fatal pandemic with unforeseen positive effects!

Corona - a fatal pandemic with unforeseen positive effects!

The Corona pandemic created what was not even taken into account by science fiction movies, empty cities, airports and abandoned schools, suspension of air traffic and a ban on the movement of travelers, as well as closed restaurants and cafes, in an unprecedented global experience with repercussions that were not all negative.

Planet Earth is breathing a sigh of relief during the Corona pandemic

Traffic and the use of vehicles of all kinds are the second largest cause of air pollution after emissions left by industrial activities. It also accounts for a quarter of global carbon dioxide emissions. Quarantine measures in various parts of the world against the background of the Corona pandemic, a unique experiment that showed experts the percentage of pollution caused by regular traffic, measures that included nearly a third of the world's population that reduced air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions at the highest rate ever recorded in history. Observers believe that the pandemic will consequently have a major impact on the auto industry.

The German “Investors” website (September 28, 2020) expected that the Corona pandemic would establish a kind of rupture between fossil energies and renewable energy sources. The newspaper cited the words of expert Amanda O'Toole, director of "clean economy strategy" at "AXA Investment Managers", who indicated that it is unlikely that the level of pollutant emissions will quickly return to normal; “I think in the short term we will witness a cyclical and relative decline in demand for cars (...) Consumers are increasingly concerned about the economic future and delay major new purchases, Like buying a car. ”And she expected a decrease in the purchase of cars with fossil combustion engines by 23 percent compared to last year, while we will reduce the demand for electric or hybrid cars by 18 percent. And long.

China - the miracle of declining nitrogen oxide emissions

In February of this year, images of the United States Space Agency (NASA) taken by satellites over the upper atmosphere in China, showed how the level of air pollution there decreased after the imposition of quarantine due to the Corona pandemic. NASA images showed a decrease in nitrogen oxide levels, after a record decline in Chinese factory activity, after manufacturers halted production as part of efforts to contain the virus. Nitrogen oxide is a harmful gas that is emitted from vehicle engines and industrial facilities. Even greater levels of decline were observed in areas close to the epicenter of the virus in Wuhan, as the map shows below.
Air pollution is a big problem in China, and like all major cities, Wuhan, from which the pandemic originated, was suffering from dense fog that was fed by car exhaust and all the waste and garbage produced by major factories. With the imposition of the quarantine, many sources of pollution dried up, and the air became clean. An open experience that environmentalists and Earth's atmosphere experts could not even dream of. For the first time, they were able to measure and observe how clean air is formed in the urban orbits of major cities and determine the proportion of homemade pollution and the contribution of polluting industry to it.

India - Carbon emissions are declining for the first time in four decades

According to a study conducted by the British environmental website Carbon Brave, the rate of carbon dioxide emissions in India decreased for the first time in four decades, partly due to the lockdown imposed in the country in the context of combating the Corona epidemic. The study showed that reduced demand for electricity, in addition to competition from renewable energy sources, led to a decline in demand for fossil fuels over the past months, even before the pandemic spread in India. She explained that the sudden shutdown, beginning on March 25th, led to an increase in emissions. According to the study, carbon dioxide emissions in India decreased by about 15% during the month of March, and about 30% in April. The study stated that "emissions decreased by approximately 1% in the fiscal year ending in March 2020, as the consumption of coal and oil decreased."

Europe - Thousands of lives saved by reduced air pollution

In the same context, another study showed that the significant reduction in air pollution caused by the closure measures would save 11,000 lives in Europe, and the measures are taken to combat the epidemic have led to a massive slowdown in the European economy, which reduced electricity production from coal by 40 % And oil consumption by about one third. The result was reduced air pollution. And the concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and fine particles in the air decreased by 37% and 10%, respectively, according to the study conducted by the Energy and Air Research Center.