An animation image shows the nitrogen dioxide emissions across Europe in January 2020, in this handout obtained byReuters on March 13, 2020. Image:European Space Agency/Reuters
By Patryk Krych | The World Daily MARCH 14th 2020
Air Pollution Clearing up Over the Skies of Coronavirus Quarantine Zones
According to satellite imagery revealed on Friday, areas that have been put under intense quarantine for the COVID-19 coronavirus have shown degradation in air pollution, most noticeably over the skies of Northern Italy and China.
The particularly notable decline in nitrogen dioxide emissions was observed in recent days by the European Space Agency (ESA), in places such as Northern Italy and China where the imposed quarantine and travel restrictions have caused a severe slowing down in travel and general movement. China, where the outbreak originated, has shown particular progress in its typically heavily polluted atmosphere.
Nitrogen dioxide, the main gas that’s seen a harsh decline over the mentioned countries’ atmospheres, is known to be severely dangerous and poisonous. It’s emitted frequently by the burning of coal, oil, diesel fuel, and natural gasses; practices most frequently seen in electrical power plants, and vehicles. With the quarantines in place over Northern Italy and China, and travel seeing a serious reduction overall, the decrease is suspected to mainly be caused by a decline in general vehicular travel.
Since the COVID-19 virus has been declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the possibility for quarantines expanding and appearing in other countries due to expected spread has arisen, researchers in charge of studying the impacts of emissions on the global climate have been investigating how the gradual slowing down of transport and industry could affect the world’s atmospheres moving forward.
In the four weeks that have transpired since March 1, CO2 emissions in China have fallen by an entire quarter, which rounds to an estimated 200 million tonnes. Approximately half the emissions that are released by all of Britain in only a single year. This is all according to Finland’s Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
In a statement, Claus Zehner, manager of the ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite mission said that “Although there could be slight variations in the data due to cloud cover and changing weather, we are very confident that the reduction in emissions that we can see coincides with the lockdown in Italy causing less traffic and industrial activities.”
The data over the countries’ emission reductions was gathered by the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, which is tasked with tracking the air pollution of the atmosphere. It specifically tracks the levels of gasses and compounds that could be most hazardous to human health, such as sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane, among other various substances.
While the implied results are fascinating in their own right, they do not in any means justify the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, which has already taken over 5,600 lives since its initial outbreak, and infected 150,000 people. What it does imply is that the steps taken by the Italian Prime Minister in closing off the majority of public spaces in an attempt to try quell the spread of the virus has discouraged travel in the country to such a degree that it’s seen an effect on the amount of poisonous compounds in the Earth’s atmosphere.
By Patryk Krych | The World Daily
