En­vi­ron­mental impact of coro­n­avirus on Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE (SPECTRUM NEWS) -- With all the chaos and unknown surrounding COVID-19, is the environment trying to tell us something, and what can Wisconsinites learn from it? The global pandemic has limited all kinds of travel for people in Wisconsin and around the world.

Images released by Nasa show a visible reduction in nitrogen dioxide emissions (NO2). These are the gases released by cars, power plants and factories. “I read there is about a 25 percent reduction in their carbon dioxide emission and that pretty substantial. Now we are seeing it in cities in the U.S., For instance, New York and soon we will see it in other cities too,” says Steve Vavrus, Senior Scientist, Nelson Institute Center for Climatic Research. 

While the corona virus’s environmental impact in Wisconsin is still premature, it shows how closely it ties to economic conditions, says Vavrus. “The last time we had a global decline in carbon emission was 2009 - during the great recession,” he says....