How Covid gave the world a lesson in tackling air pollution

‘A 7% drop – we’ve never seen this since world war two,’ says Corinne Le Quéré, professor of climate change science at the University of East Anglia, UK. Le Quéré is talking about the unprecedented global decrease in carbon emissions in modern times seen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.¹ The data Le Quéré and other atmospheric scientists have gathered over the last year are both shocking and insightful. They show a world that was profoundly altered by a virus that has killed more than 2.5 million people to date, while giving a glimpse of what a future with cleaner air might look like – one that could save many lives.