全球碳排放因为新冠疫情而回落，如今再度回升
由于2020年各国实施了疫情相关限制措施，能源利用造成的二氧化碳污染自二战以来出现绝对最大幅度下降。但封锁禁令最终得以解除，随着经济复苏，碳排放在年底迅速回升。根据国际能源署（International Energy Agency）的最新数据，去年12月，全球碳排放量比2019年同月高出2%。
2020年，能源消耗碳排放总量较上年减少约20亿公吨，降幅为5.8%。如此大幅度的下降“在人类历史上还是首次出现。这大致上相当于将欧盟排放量从全球排放总量中移除，”笔者这样写道。
美国和欧盟的排放量都下降了10%，降幅最大的时间段集中在3、4、5月。中国是唯一一个碳排放量增长的大型经济体，年增长率为0.8%。其中大部分的增长是在快到年底时发生的。2020年12月，中国的碳排放量较2019年同比增长7%。
受到工作者被隔离、业务放缓或暂停等因素的影响，交通运输业成为能源消耗碳排放量下降幅度最大的行业。石油消耗减少引起的碳排放量下降（其中一半源自道路交通，另外35%源自飞机停飞）占碳排放减少总量的一半以上。
而在可再生能源领域出现了一些亮点。太阳能和风能发电量在全球能源组合中所占的比例首次达到创纪录的20%，电动汽车的销量也创下了纪录。
虽然世界各地在努力兼顾经济复苏和长期减少碳排放，国际能源署担心后疫情时代二氧化碳排放会出现井喷式增长。国际能源署认为，随着疫情限制性措施的解除，能源需求回升的速度“突显了今年二氧化碳排放将显著增加的风险”。
据科学家估计，只有碳排放在本年内大幅下降10%，他们才能够检测到大气中二氧化碳浓度的下降，而二氧化碳浓度已经连续数十年持续上升。（财富中文网）
翻译：郝秀
审校：汪皓
由于2020年各国实施了疫情相关限制措施，能源利用造成的二氧化碳污染自二战以来出现绝对最大幅度下降。但封锁禁令最终得以解除，随着经济复苏，碳排放在年底迅速回升。根据国际能源署（International Energy Agency）的最新数据，去年12月，全球碳排放量比2019年同月高出2%。
2020年，能源消耗碳排放总量较上年减少约20亿公吨，降幅为5.8%。如此大幅度的下降“在人类历史上还是首次出现。这大致上相当于将欧盟排放量从全球排放总量中移除，”笔者这样写道。
美国和欧盟的排放量都下降了10%，降幅最大的时间段集中在3、4、5月。中国是唯一一个碳排放量增长的大型经济体，年增长率为0.8%。其中大部分的增长是在快到年底时发生的。2020年12月，中国的碳排放量较2019年同比增长7%。
受到工作者被隔离、业务放缓或暂停等因素的影响，交通运输业成为能源消耗碳排放量下降幅度最大的行业。石油消耗减少引起的碳排放量下降（其中一半源自道路交通，另外35%源自飞机停飞）占碳排放减少总量的一半以上。
而在可再生能源领域出现了一些亮点。太阳能和风能发电量在全球能源组合中所占的比例首次达到创纪录的20%，电动汽车的销量也创下了纪录。
虽然世界各地在努力兼顾经济复苏和长期减少碳排放，国际能源署担心后疫情时代二氧化碳排放会出现井喷式增长。国际能源署认为，随着疫情限制性措施的解除，能源需求回升的速度“突显了今年二氧化碳排放将显著增加的风险”。
据科学家估计，只有碳排放在本年内大幅下降10%，他们才能够检测到大气中二氧化碳浓度的下降，而二氧化碳浓度已经连续数十年持续上升。（财富中文网）
翻译：郝秀
审校：汪皓
Pandemic restrictions in 2020 caused the largest absolute drop in carbon-dioxide pollution from energy use since World War II. But lockdowns eventually lifted, and as economic activity picked up, emissions resumed very quickly by year's end. In December, worldwide emissions were 2% higher than the same month in 2019, according to new data from the International Energy Agency.
Emissions from energy fell by about 2 billion metric tons, or 5.8% in 2020, from the prior year. Such a plunge "is without precedent in human history — broadly speaking, this is the equivalent of removing all of the European Union's emissions from the global total," the authors wrote.
Both the U.S. and EU saw emissions fall by 10%, with the steepest reductions concentrated in March, April, and May. China was the only large economy that saw emissions increase, by 0.8% on an annual basis. Much of that rise came toward the end of the year. China’s emissions were 7% higher in December 2020 than they were in December 2019.
The category with the biggest drop in energy-use emissions was transportation, as workers quarantined and business slowed or halted. The decline in oil use contributed more than half of the overall total, with half of that coming from road traffic and another 35% from grounded airplanes.
The bright spots—there were some—came in the renewables space. Electricity generated from the sun and wind reached a record 20% of the mix of global energy sources for the first time, and electric vehicles sold in record numbers.
While the world simultaneously struggles to both return to normal and cut emissions permanently, the IEA is concerned about a post-pandemic CO2 gusher. The speed with which energy demand returned as pandemic restrictions lifted "underscores the risk that CO₂ emissions will increase significantly this year," the IEA wrote.
Scientists estimate that emissions would have to plummet by 10% for the year before scientists could detect the reduction in the CO2 concentration of the atmosphere, which has risen every year for decades.
