Coronavirus Has Led to Drastic Improvements in U.S. Air Quality
The coronavirus has been difficult for nearly everyone. Many people are out of work, being asked to stay inside and not risk any contamination. While this has affected everyone around the world, it has also affected the environment, positively. Coronavirus has incidentally made U.S. air cleaner.
Cities across the U.S. have seen air pollution rates drop drastically since people have been homebound. Satellite images that detect automobile emissions show huge declines, especially over large cities. Images from March 2019 compared to images in March 2020 show cities such as New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle, and Los Angeles with major differences.
As the number of coronavirus cases increases in the U.S., the number of cities seeing lockdowns to curb the spread of the disease has led to the improvements in overall air quality.
No2 Emissions from NYC 2019 on the left and 2020 on the right. Image: Sentinel-5P satellite data processed by Descartes Labs
New York
New York has been the area hardest hit by the coronavirus and is the new epicenter for COVID-19.
The BBC reported, Columbia University researchers said that New York’s carbon monoxide levels have dropped nearly 50% from last year. Dangerous carbon dioxide (CO2) have levels have fallen by 5-10% and they’ve also registered a drop in methane.
Columbia Professor Róisín Commane said:
New York has had exceptionally high carbon monoxide numbers for the last year and a half. And, this is the cleanest I have ever seen it. It’s is less than half of what we normally see in March.
No2 Emissions from Seattle 2019 on the left and 2020 on the right. Image: Sentinel-5P satellite data processed by Descartes Labs
Seattle
Seattle was one of the first cities hit by the coronavirus in the U.S. and because of this, they were one of the first to see a drop off in traffic.
Fine particle matter, PM2.5 which is very dangerous for our breathing, was measured at a 32% decrease in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area according to NBCNews.
No2 Emissions from Los Angeles 2019 on the left and 2020 on the right. Image: Sentinel-5P satellite data processed by Descartes Labs
Los Angeles
Normally one of the highest smog cities, LA has been home to blue skies due to far less people traveling. Before the statewide lockdown, the daily traffic jams had all but ended with traffic flowing smoothly through the city.
European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5P satellite show that atmospheric levels of nitrogen dioxide had dropped significantly from the same time last year. They estimated traffic had decreased by at least 40 percent, leading to the clear skies.
Satellite images released by NASA and the European Space Agency both show dramatic reductions in nitrogen dioxide emissions in China. As a result of the better air quality, this could have saved 50,000-75,000 people from premature death, according to Marshall Burke, an assistant professor from Stanford University’s Department of System Science.
NASA air quality researcher Fei Liu from the Goddard Space Flight Center said:
This is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area for a specific event. I am not surprised because many cities nationwide have taken measures to minimize the spread of the virus.
Researchers are cautious to point out that this is most likely short-lived, once the coronavirus is containable and people begin traveling for work and leisure again, the air pollution will increase.
They are correct, air pollution will rise once the virus is over. But, if we can learn anything from the way the environment is reacting, it should give us hope. Hope that the planet can bounce back from the pollution caused by fossil fuels, but we will need governments to be proactive and implement changes on a global level.
Because, who wants to go right back to breathing in dirty air, when we have the ability to make changes.