Environment: Variation in ground-level nitrogen dioxide pollution during COVID-19 lockdowns

 
The decrease in surface concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO19) during the lockdown period due to the new coronavirus infection (COVID-2) varies greatly depending on the region and the NO2 emission sector, and the decrease in the population-weighted average concentration of NO2 by country. It was revealed that the width was about 19% larger in the countries where the lockdown measures by COVID-33 were strict than in the countries where there was no lockdown.A paper reporting the results of this study will be published in Nature.This finding provides an opportunity to enhance knowledge of NO2 exposure estimates and advance air quality health assessments.

NO2 is an important contributor to air pollution, and exposure to NO2 is associated with adverse health outcomes (respiratory tract infections, asthma, lung cancer, etc.). It has been reported that the atmospheric and surface concentrations of NO19 will decrease when lockdown measures are implemented to curb the spread of COVID-2 epidemics.However, the relationship between the atmospheric concentration of NO2 measured using artificial satellite data and the surface concentration of NO2 related to human health, which is often measured only in high-income countries, remains questionable. There is.

This time, Matthew Cooper and colleagues used high-resolution satellite data to calculate the global NO2 surface concentration, and set the surface concentration of each city during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown period to the 2019 surface concentration. Compared with.Next, Cooper et al. Quantified changes in NO200 concentration in more than 2 cities using satellite measurements.Most of the 65 cities were located in low-income areas and had no surface concentration monitoring. Cooper et al. Reveal that the reduction in the population-weighted average concentration of NO2 by country is about 29% larger in countries with strict lockdown conditions (such as North America and China) than in countries without it. I made it. It was also found that the reduction in NO19 concentration during the lockdown period by COVID-2 exceeds the annual average reduction due to recent emission regulations, which corresponds to the state where the reduction has continued for about 15 years globally.

The results of this study suggest that NO2 susceptibility to lockdown varies by country and emission sector (eg, power plants and transportation), with information on surface concentration estimates from high-resolution satellite data. Demonstrate what you need.

 
* This article is reprinted from "Nature Japan Featured Highlights".
Reprinted from: "Environment: Disparity in surface nitrogen dioxide pollution during lockdown by COVID-19'