What is it about?
Many have noted how city haze cleared, dust settled and general air quality improved during COVID-19 lockdowns. We were able to map where and how much air quality improved around the world. We found that not all air pollutants decreased, however large decreases in nitrogen dioxide were clearly lined to declines in human mobility patterns.
Featured Image
Photo by Holger Link on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Our findings show that it is possible to improve global air quality through reductions in transportation sector emissions. Although the COVID-19 lockdowns are not sustainable, there are many alternative transport solutions that can achieve similar declines in air pollution. This may significantly reduce the global health burden.
Perspectives
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: COVID-19 lockdowns cause global air pollution declines, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2006853117.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page