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The Impact of COVID‐19 on CO 2 Emissions in the Los Angeles and Washington DC/Baltimore Metropolitan Areas
Author(s) -
Yadav Vineet,
Ghosh Subhomoy,
Mueller Kimberly,
Karion Anna,
Roest Geoffrey,
Gourdji Sharon M.,
LopezCoto Israel,
Gurney Kevin R.,
Parazoo Nicholas,
Verhulst Kristal R.,
Kim Jooil,
Prinzivalli Steve,
Fain Clayton,
Nehrkorn Thomas,
Mountain Marikate,
Keeling Ralph F.,
Weiss Ray F.,
Duren Riley,
Miller Charles E.,
Whetstone James
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2021gl092744
Subject(s) - metropolitan area , covid-19 , environmental science , greenhouse gas , meteorology , geography , medicine , archaeology , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , ecology , biology
Responses to COVID‐19 have resulted in unintended reductions of city‐scale carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. Here, we detect and estimate decreases in CO 2 emissions in Los Angeles and Washington DC/Baltimore during March and April 2020. We present three lines of evidence using methods that have increasing model dependency, including an inverse model to estimate relative emissions changes in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2019. The March decrease (25%) in Washington DC/Baltimore is largely supported by a drop in natural gas consumption associated with a warm spring whereas the decrease in April (33%) correlates with changes in gasoline fuel sales. In contrast, only a fraction of the March (17%) and April (34%) reduction in Los Angeles is explained by traffic declines. Methods and measurements used herein highlight the advantages of atmospheric CO 2 observations for providing timely insights into rapidly changing emissions patterns that can empower cities to course‐correct CO 2 reduction activities efficiently.