--- title: Carbon Emissions Dropped Due to Coronavirus. Can It Last? description: Our data visualizations shows that, historically, when carbon emissions fall because of a crisis, they tend to recover quickly—and worsen. canonical: https://time.com/5864374/coronavirus-carbon-emissions/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-07-09T12:00:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-30T12:54:39.081Z article:section: Health og:title: Carbon Emissions Dropped Due to Coronavirus. Can It Last? og:description: Our data visualizations shows that, historically, when carbon emissions fall because of a crisis, they tend to recover quickly—and worsen. og:url: https://time.com/5864374/coronavirus-carbon-emissions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc1ab124758199de1/698a102a096a94253b6a861e/kathmandu-pandemic-air-pollution.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: COVID-19 Lockdown In Nepal og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Carbon Emissions Dropped Due to Coronavirus. Can It Last? twitter:description: Our data visualizations shows that, historically, when carbon emissions fall because of a crisis, they tend to recover quickly—and worsen. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc1ab124758199de1/698a102a096a94253b6a861e/kathmandu-pandemic-air-pollution.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Coronavirus Pandemic Has Caused Carbon Emissions To Drop. But That Likely Won't Last > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/), [Emily Barone](https://time.com/author/emily-barone/), [Lon Tweeten](https://time.com/author/lon-tweeten/), [Chris Wilson](https://time.com/author/chris-wilson/) and [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/) Jul 9, 2020 12:00 PM UTC  Clear skies over Kathmandu, Nepal on March 29, 2020\. Usually, the Kathmandu Valley is one of the most polluted metropolitan areas in the world. Clear skies over Kathmandu, Nepal on March 29, 2020\. Usually, the Kathmandu Valley is one of the most polluted metropolitan areas in the world. Narayan Maharjan—NurPhoto/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/), [Emily Barone](https://time.com/author/emily-barone/), [Lon Tweeten](https://time.com/author/lon-tweeten/), [Chris Wilson](https://time.com/author/chris-wilson/) and [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/) Jul 9, 2020 12:00 PM UTC COVID-19 has brought much of the world came to a screeching halt. International borders have been shuttered, families have kept close to home, and governments have ordered businesses to close their doors. To see the scale of the impact, look no further than to global carbon emissions, which are projected to be 7% less in 2020 than in 2019\. Those are levels not seen in a decade. While dramatic, this change has historic precedents. Carbon emissions overall have surged since 1900, but there have been brief moments of reversal. For instance, carbon emissions dropped 26% in the three years following the stock-market crash that contributed to the Great Depression. After factories slowed production of fighter planes and bombs following World War II, emissions dropped 17%. And after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, emissions went down 3%. If there’s a lesson to be learned from this history, it’s that when a crisis causes a drop in carbon emissions, it’s unlikely to be sustainable. In the years after each of these drops, the world not only squandered the gains made in reducing emissions, but increased production of carbon dioxide to higher levels than before. Even if we were to maintain the level of global emissions we’re at right now—the reduced rate due to COVID-19’s slowing of the economy—we would still need to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 if there’s a hope of stopping global temperatures from rising [1.5°C](https://time.com/5738339/un-gap-report-climate/) above preindustrial levels, which scientists believe is necessary to avert some of the [worst impacts of climate change](https://e360.yale.edu/features/what%5Fwould%5Fa%5Fglobal%5Fwarming%5Fincrease%5F15%5Fdegree%5Fbe%5Flike). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5864374/coronavirus-carbon-emissions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5864374/coronavirus-carbon-emissions/"},"headline":"The Coronavirus Pandemic Has Caused Carbon Emissions To Drop. 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