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Date Published: 11/01/2022

ARCHIVED - Covid has accelerated climate change according to Cartagena study

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The issue of climate change is becoming increasingly urgent across the globe

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Covid has accelerated climate change according to Cartagena study

Despite the fact that issues such as global warming, CO2 emissions and climate change are more pressing than ever, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to an unexpected consequence for our planet; higher contamination levels from private vehicles.

A recent study by experts from Cyprus and Spain, in Cartagena, has revealed a direct relationship between the urban mobility behavior patterns and the evolution of pollution levels in cities during 2019, 2020 and 2021.

At first, contamination levels were greatly reduced as the public were told to stay home during the lockdowns, but then pollution rose drastically as people began avoiding public transport to stay safe. This led to more and more private vehicles being used as public transport was considered a breeding ground for the virus. In fact, since 2019, the use of public transport has decreased by 33%, according to the study.

The lack of infrastructure for ‘green’ transport, such as bicycles and electric scooters, also contributed to the increased pollution levels. The experts also pointed out that these kinds of vehicles should be on the rise in smaller cities such as Murcia or Cartagena, where the smaller distances are perfect for bikes and scooters, but there are simply not enough bicycle lanes for people to use.

The authors of the study call for greater efforts from the government to reduce carbon emissions, such as implementing low emission zones and constructing strategic and continuous cycle lanes in cities.

Decreasing CO2 emissions and slowing down global warming in 2023 is more urgent than ever as data from Copernicus (European Union Climate Change Service) shows that the past seven years have been the warmest since 1850. In addition, 2021 is the fifth hottest year since records began and CO2 emissions reached a peak of 414ppm last year.

The last seven years were the warmest on record, with 2021 5th but with a small margin to 2015 and 2018. See in the video which regions had the largest geographical anomalies for the year. #CopernicusClimate #C3S pic.twitter.com/1sbG5cLdVg
— Copernicus ECMWF (@CopernicusECMWF) January 10, 2022

The increase in temperatures was especially intense in Canada, central Africa and the west coast of the United States, but Europe is also feeling the effects of global warming, registering its warmest summer ever. Spain, including the Region of Murcia, experienced several heatwaves this summer and Murcia even registered the hottest December in 61 years.

Greenpeace representative, José Luis García, echoed the urgency of the Spain-Cyprus study, warning that recent data is clear proof that “we are standing before a warming tendency caused by humans”. The environmental group insist that emissions causing climate change must be “brought to zero”, mentioning that Spain’s proposal to reduce emissions by 23% by 2030 is not enough.

Image: Archive

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