Climate in Crisis

EPA analysis shows pandemic has prompted drastic reductions in emissions

The tally has been completed.

U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fall by about 10.6% in 2020, according to a quarter final settlement on contribution to warming during the first year of the pandemic, the US Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday.

The data is skewed due to the social and economic disruption of the pandemic, showing a sharp and near-temporary drop in the amount of planet-warming greenhouse gases the United States releases into the atmosphere.

It took the EPA about 15 months to compile data from the required industry report. It is submitted annually to the United Nations.

Emissions are expected to rise in 2021. Rhodium Group’s preliminary analysis of last year’s emissions shows that bounce around 6.2 percentthough that initial number is subject to change.

The EPA’s inventory serves as an annual reminder of the United States’ progress — or its shortfall — toward its climate goals. 2020 emissions are down by just over a tenth in a year, when most of the country’s citizens remain locked down for weeks and avoid travel, showing that fossil fuels are still present in the economy. How deeply attached. Transportation emissions, one of the most sensitive sectors to the impact of the pandemic, fell about 13% in 2020.

The inventory shows that the US is still on track to miss its climate goals. President Joe Biden, with world leaders attending the United Nations COP26 climate meetings in Glasgow in November pledge to cut at least 50% of US greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2030.

The 2020 EPA inventory shows that net emissions are down 21.4% from 2005 levels. U.S. emissions peaked in 2007 and have been on a slight downward trend since.

Biden administration infrastructure bill expected to generate small emissions, but could meet president’s climate ambitions rely on the passage of his Better Rebuild billremained stalled in the Senate as the president struggled to garner support from some members of his party, notably Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

Nearly three-quarters of 2020 emissions are from carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere during the burning of fossil fuels. The inventory says methane emissions, which account for nearly 11 percent of total emissions, have increased in 2020.

Reducing methane emissions is one of the easiest ways to slow climate change immediately.

Methane absorbs more energy than carbon dioxide, making it a more potent greenhouse gas. But methane – the main ingredient in natural gas – also decomposes much faster in the atmosphere, meaning its effects are shorter-lived.

Measures such as capturing more methane in landfills and reducing leaks in natural gas infrastructure can make a significant impact.

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