School of Economics and Management, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, Shandong 266580, People's Republic of China; Institute for Energy Economics and Policy, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, Shandong 266580, People's Republic of China.
School of Economics and Management, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, Shandong 266580, People's Republic of China; Institute for Energy Economics and Policy, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, Shandong 266580, People's Republic of China.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Aug 1;728:138915. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138915. Epub 2020 Apr 22.
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is seriously threatening world public health security. Currently, >200 countries and regions have been affected by the epidemic, with the number of infections and deaths still increasing. As an extreme event, the outbreak of COVID-19 has greatly damaged the global economic growth and caused a certain impact on the environment. This paper takes China as a case study, comprehensively evaluating the dynamic impact of COVID-19 on the environment. The analysis results indicate that the outbreak of COVID-19 improves China's air quality in the short term and significantly contributes to global carbon emission reduction. However, in the long run, there is no evidence that this improvement will continue. When China completely lifts the lockdown and resumes large-scale industrial production, its energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are likely to exceed the level before the event. Moreover, COVID-19 significantly reduces the concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO) in the atmosphere. The decline initially occurred near Wuhan and eventually spread to the whole country. The above phenomenon shows that the decreasing economic activities and traffic restrictions directly lead to the changes of China's energy consumption and further prevent the environment from pollution. The results in this study support the fact that strict quarantine measures can not only protect the public from COVID-19, but also exert a positive impact on the environment. These findings can provide a reference for other countries to assess the influence of COVID-19 on the environment.
冠状病毒病（COVID-19）严重威胁着世界公共卫生安全。目前，超过 200 个国家和地区受到疫情影响，感染人数和死亡人数仍在增加。作为一个极端事件，COVID-19 的爆发极大地破坏了全球经济增长，并对环境造成了一定影响。本文以中国为案例研究，全面评估 COVID-19 对环境的动态影响。分析结果表明，COVID-19 的爆发在短期内改善了中国的空气质量，并为全球减排做出了重大贡献。然而，从长期来看，没有证据表明这种改善将持续下去。当中国完全解除封锁并恢复大规模工业生产时，其能源使用和温室气体（GHG）排放可能会超过事件发生前的水平。此外，COVID-19 显著降低了大气中二氧化氮（NO）的浓度。这种下降最初发生在武汉附近，最终蔓延到全国。上述现象表明，经济活动的减少和交通限制直接导致了中国能源消耗的变化，从而进一步防止了环境污染。本研究的结果支持了严格的隔离措施不仅可以保护公众免受 COVID-19 的侵害，而且对环境也有积极影响的事实。这些发现可以为其他国家评估 COVID-19 对环境的影响提供参考。
