@article{6c2c1f5fce7040e187c3e0ddfdd6dbd3,
title = "The Impact of COVID-19 on CO2 Emissions in the Los Angeles and Washington DC/Baltimore Metropolitan Areas",
abstract = "Responses to COVID-19 have resulted in unintended reductions of city-scale carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Here, we detect and estimate decreases in CO2 emissions in Los Angeles and Washington DC/Baltimore during March and April 2020. We present three lines of evidence using methods that have increasing model dependency, including an inverse model to estimate relative emissions changes in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2019. The March decrease (25%) in Washington DC/Baltimore is largely supported by a drop in natural gas consumption associated with a warm spring whereas the decrease in April (33%) correlates with changes in gasoline fuel sales. In contrast, only a fraction of the March (17%) and April (34%) reduction in Los Angeles is explained by traffic declines. Methods and measurements used herein highlight the advantages of atmospheric CO2 observations for providing timely insights into rapidly changing emissions patterns that can empower cities to course-correct CO2 reduction activities efficiently.",
keywords = "COVID-19, Los Angeles, Washington DC, carbon dioxide, inversion, urban",
author = "Vineet Yadav and Subhomoy Ghosh and Kimberly Mueller and Anna Karion and Geoffrey Roest and Gourdji, {Sharon M.} and Israel Lopez-Coto and Gurney, {Kevin R.} and Nicholas Parazoo and Verhulst, {Kristal R.} and Jooil Kim and Steve Prinzivalli and Clayton Fain and Thomas Nehrkorn and Marikate Mountain and Keeling, {Ralph F.} and Weiss, {Ray F.} and Riley Duren and Miller, {Charles E.} and James Whetstone",
note = "Funding Information: The authors thank Hratch Semerjian and Eleanor Waxman (NIST), Michael Stock, Elizabeth DiGangi, Bryan Biggs, and Charlie Draper (EN) for their contributions. This work was partially funded by NIST grants 70NANB15H344, 70NANB14H322, 70NANB19H129, 70NANB19H130, 70NANB19H132, along with a commercial contract with EN (1333ND19PNB600853). A portion of this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). Funding Information: The authors thank Hratch Semerjian and Eleanor Waxman (NIST), Michael Stock, Elizabeth DiGangi, Bryan Biggs, and Charlie Draper (EN) for their contributions. This work was partially funded by NIST grants 70NANB15H344, 70NANB14H322, 70NANB19H129, 70NANB19H130, 70NANB19H132, along with a commercial contract with EN (1333ND19PNB600853). A portion of this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021. The Authors. This article has been contributed to by US Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.",
year = "2021",
month = jun,
day = "16",
doi = "10.1029/2021GL092744",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "48",
journal = "Geophysical Research Letters",
issn = "0094-8276",
publisher = "American Geophysical Union",
number = "11",
}