Fluctuations in environmental pollutants and air quality during the lockdown in the USA and China: two sides of COVID-19 pandemic
Fluctuations in environmental pollutants and air quality during the lockdown in the USA and China: two sides of COVID-19 pandemic
The World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Due to the global threat, many countries impose immediate lockdown. The impact of lockdown on the environmental pollutants and climate indicators gained considerable attention in the literature. This study aims to describe the variations in the environmental pollutants (CO, NO
2, SO
2, PM
2.5 and PM
10) with and without the lockdown period in the majorly hit states and provinces of the USA and China, respectively. Data during the first quarter year of 2019 and 2020 (lockdown period) was used in this study. Moreover, the effect of these pollutants on the pandemic spread was also studied. The results illustrated that the overall concentrations of CO, NO
2 and PM
2.5 were decreased by 19.28%, 36.7% and 1.10%, respectively, while PM
10 and SO
2 were increased by 27.81% and 3.81% respectively in five selected states of the USA during the lockdown period. However, in the case of chosen provinces of China, overall, the concentrations of all selected pollutants, i.e., CO, NO
2, SO
2, PM
2.5 and PM
10, were reduced by 26.53%, 38.98%, 18.36%, 17.78% and 37.85%, respectively. The COVID-19 reported cases and deaths were significantly correlated with NO
2, PM
2.5 and PM
10 in both China and the USA. The findings of this study concluded that the limited anthropogenic activities in the lockdown situation due to this novel pandemic disease result in a significant improvement of air quality by reducing the concentrations of environmental pollutants. As the trend goes on, the reduction of most pollutant concentrations is expected as long as partial or complete lockdown goes on.[Figure not available: see fulltext.]
China, Coronavirus, Environmental gradients, PM, USA
1335-1342
Shakoor, Awais
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Chen, Xiaoyong
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Farooq, Taimoor Hassan
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Shahzad, Umer
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Ashraf, Fatima
d842626a-36b1-4df8-b660-42f30d7ffcb7
Rehman, Abdul
988b7283-b2a1-4d3f-a6ac-bd1a70f305ec
Sahar, Najam E.
ac454553-8dbf-4e81-8a05-1bd1aef7eb24
Yan, Wende
c7971f76-8785-4714-9f5c-4bea9be2bd37
1 November 2020
Shakoor, Awais
05cf8898-7b83-42dc-89a6-fe669857584f
Chen, Xiaoyong
a3d497ad-f5ca-4fca-b83a-049871638915
Farooq, Taimoor Hassan
2b19b52a-f97b-4640-a372-5a104bc21795
Shahzad, Umer
8101e375-d924-4536-8295-d8ca5f609bbf
Ashraf, Fatima
d842626a-36b1-4df8-b660-42f30d7ffcb7
Rehman, Abdul
988b7283-b2a1-4d3f-a6ac-bd1a70f305ec
Sahar, Najam E.
ac454553-8dbf-4e81-8a05-1bd1aef7eb24
Yan, Wende
c7971f76-8785-4714-9f5c-4bea9be2bd37
Shakoor, Awais, Chen, Xiaoyong, Farooq, Taimoor Hassan, Shahzad, Umer, Ashraf, Fatima, Rehman, Abdul, Sahar, Najam E. and Yan, Wende
(2020)
Fluctuations in environmental pollutants and air quality during the lockdown in the USA and China: two sides of COVID-19 pandemic.
Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, 13 (11), .
(doi:10.1007/s11869-020-00888-6).
Abstract
The World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Due to the global threat, many countries impose immediate lockdown. The impact of lockdown on the environmental pollutants and climate indicators gained considerable attention in the literature. This study aims to describe the variations in the environmental pollutants (CO, NO
2, SO
2, PM
2.5 and PM
10) with and without the lockdown period in the majorly hit states and provinces of the USA and China, respectively. Data during the first quarter year of 2019 and 2020 (lockdown period) was used in this study. Moreover, the effect of these pollutants on the pandemic spread was also studied. The results illustrated that the overall concentrations of CO, NO
2 and PM
2.5 were decreased by 19.28%, 36.7% and 1.10%, respectively, while PM
10 and SO
2 were increased by 27.81% and 3.81% respectively in five selected states of the USA during the lockdown period. However, in the case of chosen provinces of China, overall, the concentrations of all selected pollutants, i.e., CO, NO
2, SO
2, PM
2.5 and PM
10, were reduced by 26.53%, 38.98%, 18.36%, 17.78% and 37.85%, respectively. The COVID-19 reported cases and deaths were significantly correlated with NO
2, PM
2.5 and PM
10 in both China and the USA. The findings of this study concluded that the limited anthropogenic activities in the lockdown situation due to this novel pandemic disease result in a significant improvement of air quality by reducing the concentrations of environmental pollutants. As the trend goes on, the reduction of most pollutant concentrations is expected as long as partial or complete lockdown goes on.[Figure not available: see fulltext.]
Text
Shakoor et al_AIRQ-D-20-00396_revised file
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 22 July 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 9 August 2020
Published date: 1 November 2020
Additional Information:
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Springer Nature B.V.
Keywords:
China, Coronavirus, Environmental gradients, PM, USA
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 443641
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/443641
ISSN: 1873-9318
PURE UUID: f01c4a9f-1a24-4264-a072-224233a2732c
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Date deposited: 07 Sep 2020 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 05:53
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Contributors
Author:
Awais Shakoor
Author:
Xiaoyong Chen
Author:
Taimoor Hassan Farooq
Author:
Umer Shahzad
Author:
Fatima Ashraf
Author:
Abdul Rehman
Author:
Wende Yan
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