Chapter 27 - The COVID-19 crisis and its consequences for global warming and climate change

The coronavirus disease outbreak was a moment of unprecedented global change in which the regular pattern of life of hundreds of millions of people around the world was disrupted. To prevent the spread of this virus, governments halted many economic activities so that people would sequester at home. The decline in the consumption of petroleum and other fossil fuels has led to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions which resulted in things that most living people had never before witnessed. Another consequence of coronavirus disease is a slight deceleration of global warming. The First-quarter 2020 global daily CO2 emissions from surface transport, power, and industry fell by 36%, 7.4%, and 19%, respectively, relative to the annual mean daily emissions in 2019. If they grow accustomed to these adjustments, oil consumption is likely to decline and investment in oil extraction will no longer be profitable. This radical interruption of the global economic system has made a serious move toward a greener economy.