When people talk about the largest producer of greenhouse gases, most fingers point to China. China's Carbon Emission has reduced greatly because of the coronavirus going viral and halting or at least crippling the manufacturing industry. The shutdown of most functions within the country have become the cause of this unexpected positive environmental effect.
Coronavirus good for the environment?
Studies have found alarming numbers being reduced
The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air or CREA has been behind a study that has pointed out that about 100 million metric tons of carbon emissions that come directly from China have been dropped and have stated that this could be because of the Coronavirus halting most of their operations! China is already known to have been behind about 25% of Earth's total emissions of greenhouse gasses. Even if China has decreased this number during 2014 and 2016, the carbon emissions have still rebounded, and this is mostly because of the country's reliance on coal as a cheap energy source to be able to manufacture large quantities of products at a lower price massively.
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According to CREA, China has a huge responsibility in the rise of carbon emissions around the globe in 2019. Although there is currently a huge drop in carbon emissions, this is still expected to be temporary because of Beijing's plans to revive its industrial activities.
There are a lot of sectors being affected because of the Coronavirus
Even if this virus had positive effects on the environment, we cannot dismiss the fact that its fatality has brought panic to the whole world and there are more negative effects in the public health and economic sector of not just China but other countries as well. The total lives lost were a loss for humanity in general, and although our environmental status has improved, there should be no reason to celebrate as other factors were deeply affected as well.
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There have been a lot of tech giants like Apple and Google who have pulled out certain factories from China, which can really cripple them economically because most of their manufacturing is made with the help of China. Other industries like construction materials and machinery are also greatly affected by this because of export bans and export relations with other countries.
Burning fossil fuels and the harm it has done
There are reportedly 1.8 million premature deaths in China every year, according to a survey on smog and other pollutants and their effects on the public. As for the country's economic state, China is said to earn US$900 billion annually.
President Xi Jinping has already tackled this topic about four years ago, setting a goal for China to reach its carbon emission peak in 2030 and reduce the carbon footprint after. Because of the coronavirus outbreak, the focus has shifted into the public health of their citizens, and because of the unfavorable halts and limits on manufacturing and other industries, China's carbon emissions have been greatly reduced.
