COVID-19: air pollution remains low as people stay at home

Abstract

Coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) is transmitted worldwide in over a very short time, as it was originated in late 2019 from Wuhan city, China. To reduce the possible effects due to COVID-19, some sort of lockdown activities have been applied in many countries. In this regard, the outcomes reported bonus benefits to the natural environment showing a significant decrease in air pollution worldwide due to COVID-19. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and European Space Agency (ESA) released air pollution data for Asian and European countries to assess the significant changes in air quality. The main objective of the study is to compare the air quality data released by international agencies before and after the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Keywords: Air pollutant; COVID-19; Coronavirus; ESA; NASA; Nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

Fig. 1

Description of background diseases evident in over 20% of the cases (Ogen 2020)

Fig. 2

NO₂ emission reduction data during lockdown: Asian countries (a) and European countries (b) (source: NASA and ESA 2020)

Fig. 3

Variation in the concentration of NO₂ in China during the COVID-19 lockdowns (ESA 2020)

Fig. 4

Variation in the concentration of NO₂ in India during COVID-19 lockdowns (ESA 2020)

Fig. 5

Variation in the concentration of NO₂ in European countries (Italy, Spain, and France) during COVID-19 lockdowns (ESA 2020)