Does social distancing increase or decrease your carbon footprint?

Decrease

Explanation:

The carbon footprint is the amount of carbon (in terms of greenhouse gases) being emitted by human activities. In a situation where social distancing is encouraged, human activity would reduce significantly. Very few people will be outside and the causative agents of pollution (anthropogenic) will be significantly reduced. Further, nature would be able to minimize the impacts of pollution when human activities are less than the threshold capacity.

Let's take an example of coronavirus spread globally this year. The social distancing of 2 meters has significantly reduced the number of people going outside. Ultimately, there are fewer automobiles on the roads and a few industries are running. The result is that the air quality index has been significantly improved. For example, in India, people from 300 km away, can see the Himalayan mountain range very clearly (see image attached). This has not happened in decades after modern industrialization.