What impact will coronavirus have on climate change?

In nations around the world, everyday life has come to a grinding halt as part of efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus. City streets sit empty. Factories are shuttered. Planes sit idly on runways. Traffic on major freeways has disappeared.

An unintended side effect of the lockdowns to curb coronavirus has been a significant decrease in emissions. Air pollutants from Chinese factories dropped dramatically when manufacturing in parts of the country shut down. Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions could drop by as much as 24 percent this year,...