Analysis on the Characteristics of Air Pollution in China during the COVID-19 Outbreak

Li, Dong; Chen, Bin; Huang, Yongjun; Song, Zhihao

doi:10.3390/atmos12020205

Cited by 30 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…In the case of NO 2 , the trend of changes in most locations in Poland is consistent, for example, with the changes indicated in the EEA report [41] mentioned in the introduction, changes in Brazil indicated in [50], or in China [51]. The infamous exceptions in Poland (where an increase in NO 2 concentrations was observed) were Warsaw and Łódź.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Air Pollution Observations in Selected Locations in Poland during the Lockdown Related to COVID-19

Rogulski

Badyda

2021

Atmosphere

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The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused huge changes in people’s daily habits and had a significant impact on the economy. The lockdowns significantly reduced road traffic and meant that many people worked remotely. Therefore, the question arose as to how the reduced road traffic and stays of residents at home affected the degree of pollution and the structure of major air pollutants. To answer this question, the article presents an analysis of changes in typical air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2) in the five largest Polish cities and one of the voivodships. The data from the Polish State Environmental Monitoring were used for the analysis. The analysis showed that the period of the first lockdown in Poland (April 2020), despite the reduced road traffic, resulted in a significant increase in PM10 emissions (9–91% during working days and an average of 30% on Saturdays and Sundays), a slight increase in PM2.5 emissions (on average from 2% to 11% for all analyzed locations), and a reduction in NO2 emissions (on average from 6% to 11% for all analyzed locations) compared to the period before the lockdown. However, the changes were not homogeneous—in Łódź and Warsaw, in most cases, an increase in all analyzed pollutants was observed, and the greatest decrease in pollution took place in Małopolska voivodship (including Kraków). Comparing the data from April 2020 to the data from April 2019, the overall difference in the PMs concentrations was small, although there are places where there has been a significant decrease (Wrocław, Poznań), and there were also places where the concentration increased (Warsaw, Łódź, Małopolska). In the case of nitrogen dioxide, pollution concentration decreased in most locations. The only exception was the background stations in Warsaw, where the increase was 27%.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Air Pollution Observations in Selected Locations in Poland during the Lockdown Related to COVID-19

Rogulski

Badyda

2021

Atmosphere

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“…Similar patterns of CO concentration as a result of road transportation, which emits large amounts of pollutants, and coal-based energy production have been recorded. These are the main reasons for the relatively high CO concentration ( Dong, 2021 ). In addition, in Jiangsu, the population is relatively large, distribution is concentrated, the amount of coal consumed is large and the emission of smoke and dust is more than three times the national average ( Fu, 2020 ), especially during autumn and winter, when the demand for coal is even greater.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the change of ambient air quality patterns in Jiangsu Province of China pre-to post-COVID-19

et al. 2022

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Following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in early 2020, to effectively prevent the spread of the disease, major cities across China suspended work and production. While the rest of the world struggles to control COVID-19, China has managed to control the pandemic rapidly and effectively with strong lockdown policies. This study investigates the change in air pollution (focusing on the air quality index (AQI), six ambient air pollutants nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), ozone (O 3 ), sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters ≤10 μm (PM 10 ) and ≤2.5 μm (PM 2.5 )) patterns for three periods: pre-COVID (from 1 January to May 30, 2019), active COVID (from 1 January to May 30, 2020) and post-COVID (from 1 January to May 30, 2021) in the Jiangsu province of China. Our findings reveal that the change in air pollution from pre-COVID to active COVID was greater than in previous years due to the government's lockdown policies. Post-COVID, air pollutant concentration is increasing. Mean change PM 2.5 from pre-COVID to active COVID decreased by 18%; post-COVID it has only decreased by 2%. PM 10 decreased by 19% from pre-COVID to active COVID, but post-COVID pollutant concentration has seen a 23% increase. Air pollutants show a positive correlation with COVID-19 cases among which PM 2.5 , PM 10 and NO 2 show a strong correlation during active COVID-19 cases. Metrological factors such as minimum temperature, average temperature and humidity show a positive correlation with COVID-19 cases while maximum temperature, wind speed and air pressure show no strong positive correlation. Although the COVID-19 pandemic had numerous negative effects on human health and the global economy, the reduction in air pollution and significant improvement in ambient air quality likely had substantial short-term health benefits; the government must implement policies to control post-COVID environmental issues.

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“…The Euclidean Distance (ED) can be used to calculate the similarity among meteorological elements in different years. Smaller ED coefficient results indicate higher similarities between the real-time field and the historical sample field (Dong et al, 2021). And the ED value can be calculated by the equation below:…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The air quality in China during COVID-19 had been significantly improved, with the NO 2 concentration decreased by 41.7 and 61.92% in Yangtze River Delta and Wuhan respectively in February. And the PM 2.5 values were decreased by 20.98% in Yangtze River Delta and 42.07% in Wuhan (Dong et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Using Lidar and Historical Similar Meteorological Fields to Evaluate the Impact of Anthropogenic Control on Dust Weather During COVID-19

Chen

Huang

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Asian dust can be transported at least one full circuit around the globe. During the transportation, dust can interact with local air-borne dust and pollutants, and has a profound impact on the environment. A novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been affecting human activities worldwide since early 2020. The Chinese government has implemented emergency control measures. Since April 2020, control measures to reduce anthropogenic emissions have been gradually reduced. The optical properties of aerosols during the dust transport were affected by meteorological conditions, local environmental conditions and human activities. Therefore, two dust weather processes in March 2018 and March 2020 were screened under similar meteorological fields and transportation paths, which were mainly affected by human activities. Based on lidar data, in East China, compared with 2018, the average aerosol optical depth (AOD) of all types of aerosols at 0–4 km in 2020 decreased by 55.48%, while the AOD of dust aerosols decreased by 43.59%. The average particle depolarization ratio and color ratio decreased by 40.33 and 10.56% respectively. Due to the reduction of anthropogenic emissions in China (detected by lidar), the concentration of surface PM2.5 decreased by 57.47%. This indicated that due to the decrease in human activities caused by COVID-19 control measures, the optical properties of aerosols were significantly reduced during dust weather process in eastern China. However, in the Pacific region, compared with 2018, the AOD values of 0–1 km layer and 1–6 km layer in 2020 increased by 56.4% and decreased by 29.2% respectively. The difference between the two contributions of dust aerosols was very small. Meanwhile, compared with 2018, China’s near surface pollutants decreased significantly in 2020, indicating that the near surface AOD of the Pacific in 2020 was mainly contributed by local pollutants. This study was of great significance to the study of long-range and cross regional transport of pollutants.

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Analysis on the Characteristics of Air Pollution in China during the COVID-19 Outbreak

Cited by 30 publications

References 78 publications

Air Pollution Observations in Selected Locations in Poland during the Lockdown Related to COVID-19

Air Pollution Observations in Selected Locations in Poland during the Lockdown Related to COVID-19

Assessing the change of ambient air quality patterns in Jiangsu Province of China pre-to post-COVID-19

Using Lidar and Historical Similar Meteorological Fields to Evaluate the Impact of Anthropogenic Control on Dust Weather During COVID-19

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