Satellite reveals a steep decline in China’s CO(2) emissions in early 2022

Response actions to the coronavirus disease 2019 perturbed economies and carbon dioxide (CO(2)) emissions. The Omicron variant that emerged in 2022 caused more substantial infections than in 2020 and 2021 but it has not yet been ascertained whether Omicron interrupted the temporary post-2021 rebound of CO(2) emissions. Here, using satellite nitrogen dioxide observations combined with atmospheric inversion, we show a larger decline in China’s CO(2) emissions between January and April 2022 than in those months during the first wave of 2020. China’s CO(2) emissions are estimated to have decreased by 15% (equivalent to −244.3 million metric tons of CO(2)) during the 2022 lockdown, greater than the 9% reduction during the 2020 lockdown. Omicron affected most of the populated and industrial provinces in 2022, hindering China’s CO(2) emissions rebound starting from 2021. China’s emission variations agreed with downstream CO(2) concentration changes, indicating a potential to monitor CO(2) emissions by integrating satellite and ground measurements.