Did anomalous atmospheric circulation favor the spread of COVID-19 in Europe?

Sánchez-Lorenzo, Arturo; Vaquero-Martínez, Javier; Calbó, Josep; Wild, Martin; Santurtún, Ana; López-Bustins, Joan A.; Vaquero, J. M.; Folini, Doris; Antón, Manuel

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2020.110626

Cited by 38 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Therefore, this variable has strong influence on climatic variation, generating favourable conditions for the virus spread in some cases (drought and light wind) but not in others (high humidity and strong wind). Others have provided evidence for a direct link between atmospheric pressure and the virus spread, indicating that the unusual persistence of an anticyclonic atmospheric situation (i.e., abnormally strong positive phase of the North Atlantic and Arctic oscillation) in southwestern Europe, centered in Spain and Italy during February 2020, generated conditions of drought and light wind that could have favored the faster spread of the virus compared to other European countries 22 . This is reinforced by the positive correlation found between atmospheric pressure and the frequency of COVID-19 cases in Mozambique 25 , and with several spread parameters (infection rate, effective reproduction number and compound growth rate) in 487 cities in the United States 23 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental determinants of COVID-19 transmission across a wide climatic gradient in Chile

Correa-Araneda

Ulloa-Yañez

Núñez

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Several studies have examined the transmission dynamics of the novel COVID-19 disease in different parts of the world. Some have reported relationships with various environmental variables, suggesting that spread of the disease is enhanced in colder and drier climates. However, evidence is still scarce and mostly limited to a few countries, particularly from Asia. We examined the potential role of multiple environmental variables in COVID-19 infection rate [measured as mean relative infection rate = (number of infected inhabitants per week / total population) × 100.000) from February 23 to August 16, 2020 across 360 cities of Chile. Chile has a large climatic gradient (≈ 40º of latitude, ≈ 4000 m of altitude and 5 climatic zones, from desert to tundra), but all cities share their social behaviour patterns and regulations. Our results indicated that COVID-19 transmission in Chile was mostly related to three main climatic factors (minimum temperature, atmospheric pressure and relative humidity). Transmission was greater in colder and drier cities and when atmospheric pressure was lower. The results of this study support some previous findings about the main climatic determinants of COVID-19 transmission, which may be useful for decision-making and management of the disease.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental determinants of COVID-19 transmission across a wide climatic gradient in Chile

Correa-Araneda

Ulloa-Yañez

Núñez

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“… 1 Rodriguez-Urrego and Rodríguez-Urrego, 2020 Decreased concentration of the most harmful particles for health (PM2.5), in the different capital cities of the world during the confinement season, with a favorable restoring of the air quality of most cities analyzed. 2 Sanchez-Lorenzo et al, (2021) Effects of large-scale atmospheric patterns on COVID-19. Anticyclonic conditions could have favoured early spread of COVID-19 over Europe.…”

Section: Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic On the Environment And Biotamentioning

confidence: 99%

The COVID-19 pandemic and its implications on the environment

Facciolà

Laganà

Caruso

2021

Environmental Research

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The emerging threat posed by COVID-19 pandemic has strongly modified our lifestyle, making urgent to re-consider the humans-environment relationships and stimulating towards more sustainable choices in our daily behavior. Scientific evidences showed that the onset of new viral pathogens with a high epidemic-pandemic potential is often the result of complex interactions between animals, humans and environment. In this context, the interest of the scientific community has also been attracted towards the potential interactions of SARS-CoV-2 with environmental compartments. Many issues, ranging from the epidemiology and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in water bodies to the potential implications of lockdown measures on environmental quality status are here reviewed, with a special reference to marine ecosystems. Due to current sanitary emergence, the relevance of pilot studies regarding the interactions between SARS-CoV-2 spread and the direct and indirect environmental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, that are still a matter of scientific debate, is underlined.

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“…Notably, some authors also hypothesised that an atmosphere rich in air pollutants, together with certain climate conditions, may have promoted a longer permanence of the viral particles in the air, thus favouring an "indirect" diffusion [180,181], which thus may have played an important role in increasing the contagion [190]. In fact, the anomalous anticyclonic system over the western Mediterranean basin (centred between Spain and Italy during February 2020) and lower pressures over Northern Europe may have produced dry conditions over southwestern Europe, thus providing optimal meteorological conditions for virus propagation, both indoors and outdoors, in addition to the direct and indirect contact and short-range droplets.…”

Section: Air Pollutants As Stressors Contributing To Severe Consequenmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Do Inflammatory Mediators, Immune Response and Air Pollution Contribute to COVID-19 Disease Severity? A Lesson to Learn

Signorini

Pignatti

Coccini

2021

Life

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Inflammatory and immune processes are defensive mechanisms that aim to remove harmful agents. As a response to infections, inflammation and immune response contribute to the pathophysiological mechanisms of diseases. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), whose underlying mechanisms remain not fully elucidated, has posed new challenges for the knowledge of pathophysiology. Chiefly, the inflammatory process and immune response appear to be unique features of COVID-19 that result in developing a hyper-inflammatory syndrome, and air pollution, the world’s largest health risk factor, may partly explain the behaviour and fate of COVID-19. Understanding the mechanisms involved in the progression of COVID-19 is of fundamental importance in order to avoid the late stage of the disease, associated with a poor prognosis. Here, the role of the inflammatory and immune mediators in COVID-19 pathophysiology is discussed.

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Did anomalous atmospheric circulation favor the spread of COVID-19 in Europe?

Cited by 38 publications

References 50 publications

Environmental determinants of COVID-19 transmission across a wide climatic gradient in Chile

Environmental determinants of COVID-19 transmission across a wide climatic gradient in Chile

The COVID-19 pandemic and its implications on the environment

How Do Inflammatory Mediators, Immune Response and Air Pollution Contribute to COVID-19 Disease Severity? A Lesson to Learn

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