Axios reports: Pollution levels have plummeted over China and it’s “partly related to the economic slowdown following the outbreak of coronavirus,” NASA said in a statement accompanying the release of satellite images demonstrating the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) changes.
The outbreak caused China’s factory activity to fall to a record low of 35.7 in February from 50.0 in January, officials said Saturday, per the Financial Times. NO2, a key contributor to smog and a major health hazard, is the gas that’s emitted by motor vehicles, power plants and other industrial facilities.
This is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area for a specific event.”
— Fei Liu, air quality researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA scientists first noticed the reduction in NO2 pollution in January near Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. They then noticed changes in pollution levels across the country as the virus spread.
Fei Liu, an air quality researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, recalled seeing a fall in NO2 levels over several countries during the economic recession that began in 2008, but that was more gradual.
This is not the right way to combat global warming, obviously. But it is a very sharp illustration of what’s causing it.