Earth had some fever in 2020, in part due to the presence of cleaner air as a result of the confinements implemented by the coronavirus pandemic around the world, according to a new study released Tuesday.
For a brief period, temperatures in some parts of the eastern United States, Russia, and China were between 0.3 and 0.7 degrees Celsius (half to two-thirds degrees Fahrenheit) warmer. This is due to a lower amount of soot and sulfate particles from car exhaust pipes and coal burning, which normally cool the atmosphere temporarily by reflecting heat from the sun, according to the study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
In total, the planet was 0.03 ° C (0.05 ° F) warmer in 2020 because the air had fewer aerosols, which unlike carbon dioxide, is a type of pollution which can be seen, the study found.
“Cleaning the air can actually heat the planet because pollution (with soot and sulfates) produces a cooling,” something climate scientists have known for a long time, noted lead author Andrew Gettelman of the study and atmospheric scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. His calculations come from the comparison of the climate of 2020 with computer models which have simulated a 2020 without the reduction in pollution caused by confinements.
This temporary warming effect caused by fewer particles being stronger by 2020 than the effect of the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, Gettelman said. This is because carbon stays in the atmosphere for over a century with long-term effects, while aerosols remain in the air for about a week.
Even without the reduction of aerosols, global temperatures in 2020 were already close to surpassing the annual heat record for burning coal, oil and natural gas, and the effect of aerosols could have been enough to help that year. was the hottest in NASA’s measurement system, said NASA chief climate scientist Gavin Schmidt, who did not participate in the study but said this confirms other research.