Read the given passage and answer the following questions based on it.
Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases plunged 4.6 percent in 2020, as lockdowns in the first half of the year restricted global mobility and hampered economic activity. Many hoped that this would mark the beginning of a more permanent shift downwards in emissions. Emissions from the manufacturing and the energy sectors contributed the most to recent global increases based on updated information from the IMF’s Climate Change Indicators Dashboard—a joint effort among national and international statistical organizations to provide timely data to help monitor the transition to lower carbon use.
As greenhouse gas emissions from human activities increase, they build up in the atmosphere and warm the climate, leading to many other changes around the world—in the atmosphere, on land, and in the oceans. While total emissions have climbed significantly above pre-pandemic levels, increases from transportation and households were more muted last year as the pandemic weighed on global mobility. This was particularly evident with the emergence of the omicron variant in the fourth quarter of last year. The public health policy measures in many countries drove down the emissions of households and of the electricity sector.
It will be important to monitor the emissions of both of these sectors as economies fully reopen in the context of historically high fossil fuel-based energy prices. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said that, in the scenarios they assessed, limiting atmospheric warming to the key level of around 1.5 degrees Celsius requires global greenhouse gas emissions to peak by 2025 at the latest, emphasizing that achieving this milestone is a crucial step towards controlling the severity of climate change. The new data from the climate dashboard underscore what some scientists have warned: time is running out, and we must urgently bend the emissions curve to achieve the necessary reductions to limit atmospheric warming.
According to the passage, why did greenhouse gas emissions decrease in 2020?
Reduced emissions from manufacturing and energy sectors
The introduction of global policy over capping greenhouse gas emission by 30%
Global mobility restrictions and economic activity declination due to lockdown
Increased use of renewable energy sources
The emergence of the Climate Change Indicators Dashboard
The correct answer is: Global mobility restrictions and economic activity declination due to lockdown.
This is a reading comprehension question, so the answer must be traced directly back to the evidence provided in the passage. Let us analyze it step by step.
Step 1: Identify the question's focus
The question asks: Why did greenhouse gas emissions decrease in 2020?
We need to find the specific reason stated in the passage — not what we personally know, but exactly what the author mentions.
Step 2: Locate the relevant section of the passage
The very first sentence of the passage states:
"Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases plunged 4.6 percent in 2020, as lockdowns in the first half of the year restricted global mobility and hampered economic activity."
Step 3: Match the passage evidence to the options
The passage gives two direct causes for the drop in emissions in 2020:
1. Lockdowns restricted global mobility — people could not travel freely, reducing transportation-related emissions.
2. Hampered economic activity — factories, businesses, and industries slowed down, reducing industrial emissions.
Now let us check each option against the passage:
❌ Reduced emissions from manufacturing and energy sectors — The passage actually states these sectors contributed the most to global increases, not decreases. This contradicts the question's context.
❌ The introduction of global policy over capping greenhouse gas emission by 30% — No such policy is mentioned anywhere in the passage. This is fabricated.
✅ Global mobility restrictions and economic activity declination due to lockdown — This directly mirrors the passage's opening sentence and is the stated cause.
❌ Increased use of renewable energy sources — The passage never attributes the 2020 drop to renewable energy adoption.
❌ The emergence of the Climate Change Indicators Dashboard — This dashboard is mentioned as a data monitoring tool, not as a cause for emission reduction.
Step 4: Conclusion
The passage explicitly and unambiguously states that the reason for the 4.6% plunge in greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 was the lockdowns that restricted global mobility and hampered economic activity. This perfectly aligns with the correct answer: "Global mobility restrictions and economic activity declination due to lockdown."
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