By: Jordan Coll / Asst. News Director
If anything good could come out of this pandemic hurl, to say the least, it’s the notion that our air is much cleaner than before COVID-19.
Reductions in greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are projected to decline this year and other drivers of global warming according to the U.S National Library of Medicine National Institute of Health.
“A lot of smoke is seen in the atmosphere but we are not seeing it now,” said Hugh Willoughby, a professor of Meteorology in the Department of Earth and Environment.
Global restrictions such as stay at home orders have sent financial markets into a free fall but have also led to the removal of harmful air pollutants. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is one of these highly reactive gases known as oxides of nitrogen or nitrogen oxides (NOx).
Gases such as Nitrogen dioxide are typically expelled from the burning of fuel. Emissions from Nitrogen dioxide forms through cars, trucks, and buses, power plants, and off-road equipment.
Certain health effects can present themselves in an environment with a high concentration of Nitrogen dioxide.
Breathing in this gas can irritate airways in the human respiratory system. Such exposures according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can induce certain respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, resulting in symptoms (such as coughing, wheezing, or difficulty breathing).
“The most impacted energy source during this time is the generation of electricity since factories have closed at the rise of COVID-19,” said Willoughby.
COVID-19 has placed a halt on the transportation industry with these emissions have been dramatically cut.
With job sectors impacted across the globe including the airline industry which aircraft emit nitrogen oxides responsible for the formation of ozone, another greenhouse gas.
In recent reports conducted by NASA satellite imagery have indicated a significant reduction in air pollution in metropolitan areas of the Northeast United States. Cities such as Washington, DC to Boston have notably seen a change in nitrogen dioxide levels.
These observations are obtained from high above using the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA’s Aura satellite. The data suggest that in March 2020 Nitrogen dioxide levels were about 30% lower on average across cities in the Northeast area.
Similar improvements in air quality have been witnessed in other regions of the world.
“We will have to wait until the pandemic finishes in order to see the full effects of COVID-19 with global temperatures,” said Willoughby.
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