In late March, a popular meme on Twitter claimed that Covid-19 closures around the world were a cure for pollution. “Nature heals, we are the virus,” the motto said. Although the word was used ironically (the first viral tweet that used it included a photo of scooters floating in the water and in which “lime scooters were read, even though everything returns to the river”), it was born from serious viral stories about the appearance of wildlife. quarantined cities. One of the swan-photo tweets believed to be in the canals of Venice attributed the locks to clearer waters and the return of birds and other tweets spoke of dolphins in canals and elephants drinking tea in Yunnan province.
However, most of the claims were misleading or completely false (in the first case, the swans were not in Venice, but in some other Italian city, Burano). But is there a clinical basis for the concept that the pandemic has paved the way for the “healing” of nature? A recent study published in Geophysical Research Letters provides new data on the environmental effects of locks. Researchers at the University of Washington discussed the effect of China’s strict and immediate boundaries and February meetings on regional air pollution.
“We asked the question: did China’s blocking measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 lead to relief from air pollutants?” says Michael Diamond, a PhD student in the university’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences. “And our answer was yes … And no. Depends on the type of contaminants you’re talking about!”
The team found that there was an unprecedented drop in nitrogen oxides, a form of air pollutants that occurs disproportionately through passenger transport, as well as through car exhaust pipes. However, there have been no significant adjustments to aerosol waste in the environment or cloud properties.
Diamond studies the interactions between pollutants and clouds. Aerosols, tiny particles in the air, play a role in the formation of clouds and are a major component of air pollutants. “The water in the air wants an aerosol ‘seed’ and a drop of cloud to form,” Diamond explains.
In the air containing more aerosol, more droplets will form than in cleaner air. Clouds with more droplets are brighter, reflect sunlight in the area and create a cooling effect that Diamond says “masks” some of the global warming induced by greenhouse gases. Therefore, understanding aerosols and droplets of clouds is understanding how much the earth has warmed and how much there will be in the future.
Locks in China provided a valuable “natural experience”: a dramatic break-up with generally as researchers gained more knowledge about aerosols and air pollution.
To better perceive the effect of locks in China on air pollution, the researchers took into account various external factors, adding the environmental policies followed over the past decade and climate anomalies. For example, February 2020 was warmer and wetter than average, which contributed prospectively to lower nitrogen dioxide levels as well as a superior outlook for aerosol production. They even reported on the atmospheric effects of the Chinese New Year, which occurred in late January, just before the closures, such as less traffic emissions and a build-up of fireworks debris.
These points are essential for a complete understanding of the data. Air legislation in eastern China has helped reduce pollution levels since 2013.
“Even without any effect from the Covid-19 closures, February 2020 is expected to be less polluted than the 2013-2019 average.” Diamond said. “In the case of aerosols, it could be wrongly concluded that there was a large decrease due to the Covid-19, so you could start looking for a cloud sign that doesn’t exist in reality.”
After taking all these variables into account, the researchers found that the locks had resulted in a 50% minimisation in nitrogen dioxide than would be expected in February 2020. The decline is incredibly surprising: it is more than twice as giant as anything else that has been observed in the last decade and a half.
The explanation for the dramatic drop in nitrogen dioxide, but not in aerosols, is that when blocked, traffic can disappear virtually overnight and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. But although transport stopped quickly, heavy industry remained more or less constant with closures in China. If the power plants adapt for a longer period of time, this can lead to a decrease in aerosol grades in the future.
“The adjustments to air pollutants we saw at the close of February 2020 in China would possibly offer a long-term imaginable look at which transport emissions are declining significantly, perhaps due to the widespread electrification of cars and trucks,” Says Diamond. However, “if we want to improve all facets of air pollutants, we will want a comprehensive portfolio of policies to combat emissions in many other economic sectors at the same time.”
Addressing air pollutants is also a public health problem, especially during a pandemic of a disease affecting the lungs. Researchers are still reading the links between air quality and vulnerability to Covid-19. Some evidence from the 2003 SARS outbreak suggests that short-term exposure to air pollutants has led to higher mortality rates in China. While replacing contaminants has an effect on Covid-19 mortality, Diamond suggests that taking aid measures into account may be an aid in reopening strategies.
As for the concept on Twitter that nature heals itself and that we are the virus, Diamond asks other humans for attention in discussions about long-term environmental changes, and warns that falling lock contaminants is “incredibly short-lived.”
“Sustainable substitution will have to come from a more planned social reaction; I don’t think I can seriously argue that quarantined living is a smart style for a more sustainable future.”
I analyze complex clinical topics for others of all ages. In addition to my signatures with NASA, Brookhaven National Laboratory and the American Institute of Physics,
I analyze complex clinical topics for others of all ages. In addition to my signatures with NASA, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the American Institute of Physics, I can place my writings in the Science segment in the News segment of Smore Magazine, a clinical publication for children. Before I joined a writer, I graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in physics, where I worked as an assistant in high-energy physics and astrophysics laboratories. I’m interested in the effect of physics and chemistry on our lives and I tell others why they deserve to worry. You can stay with me on Twitter at astrogasparini