2020 in climate: As the world took the pandemic heat, global warming only became worse
2020 will go down in history as the year of major uncertainties and upheavals. While the coronavirus pandemic upended ‘business as usual’ and saddled global economies with massive setbacks, climate change impacts were also equally glaring and can be seen in some extreme weather events happening across the globe that continue to affect millions of lives and livelihoods.
Due to the pandemic, assuring health security took precedence while climate plans and ambitions were put on the back burner. Important to be reminded here that there’s a yawning gap between what countries have pledged to do as per their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and what scientists say is required to avert a climate crisis.
In the middle of the year, when most countries imposed Covid-induced global lockdowns and either slowed or stopped industrial activity, there was a brief glimmer of hope for the environment as greenhouse gas emissions plummeted. But confining people to their homes and shutting down industries wasn’t a practical solution anyway in the long-term to bring down overall carbon dioxide emissions or to halt climate change.
In fact, a World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) report in November this year said, “The lockdown has cut emissions of many pollutants and greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
