The UN released a report on Thursday warning that the COVID-19 pandemic has not slowed the pace of climate change.
Virus-related economic slowdown and lockdowns caused only a temporary downturn in CO2 emissions last year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said.
“There was some thinking that the COVID lockdowns would have had a positive impact on the atmosphere, which is not the case,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said at a news briefing.
The United in Science 2021 report, which gathers the latest scientific data and findings related to climate change, said global fossil-fuel CO2 emissions between January and July in the power and industry sectors were already back to the same level or higher than in the same period in 2019, before the pandemic.
UN: Pandemic did not slow advance of climate change.
So it seems there has been no silver lining to that particular cloud.https://t.co/RJwgt7emAK
— Michael de Podesta (@Protons4B) September 16, 2021