According to a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health, scientists at the University of Notre Dame found that particle concentrations in China fell by 29. 7% unprecedented, and at 17. 1% in some parts of Europe, the blockades that took place between 1 February and 31 March in China and from 21 February to 17 May in Europe. The debris (PM2. 5) – tiny debris in the air less than 1/10,000 inch in diameter – comes from a variety of combustion-related sources, adding commercial emissions, transport, wildfires and chemical reactions of pollutants in the atmosphere.
“We believe these closures are the world’s first experiment in forced low-emission scenarios,” said Paola Crippa, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at Notre Dame and a corresponding writer for the study. world delight shows us that strong innovations can be achieved in severely polluted spaces even in the short term, if strong measures are implemented. “
Air pollutants are the leading environmental cause of death. In 2016, the World Health Organization attributed air pollutants to 4. 2 million premature deaths worldwide, with the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia affected at most. Long-term exposure can be detrimental to human health, with death related to lung cancer, ischemic center disease, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Crippa and his team incorporated complex PC simulations with measured particle concentrations at more than 2500 sites in Europe and China in general between January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2020, which the two regions initiated blockades when COVID-19 began to spread rapidly.
The team estimated premature mortality rates compared to 4 other economic recovery scenarios: an early resumption of general activity and upcoming emissions, a slow recovery with a proportional increase in 3-month emissions, the momentary prospect of a COVID-19 outbreak between October and December in all regions, and a permanent blockade for the rest of 2020 due to useless strategies.
“The unforeseen maximum component of these paints is similar to having an effect on the human fitness of improvements in air quality,” Crippa said. “It was unforeseen to see that the number of deaths prevented in the long run due to improved air quality is similar to that of COVID-19-similar deaths, at least in China, where a small number of PATIENTS with COVID-19 have been reported. These effects highlight the severity of air quality disorders in some parts of the world and the need for rapid action. “
From February to March, the study found that approximately 24,200 particle-like premature deaths were prevented in China, compared to the 3,309 deaths reported through COVID-19, and “improved air quality became widespread in China due to extended blockade measures. “discovered that the scenario in Europe was quite different. While COVID-19-like deaths were much higher in Europe than those reported in China, an estimated 2190 deaths were prevented during the era of employer closure compared to averages between 2016 and 2019. The number of deaths avoided is much higher (up to 287,000 in China and 29,500 in Europe) if we take into account the long-term effects, which will have the long-term trajectory of economic recovery.
The study serves as an example of a desire to expand ad hoc policies to achieve effective innovations in air quality, Crippa said, highlighting the challenge of the threat belief between the immediate crisis of the coronavirus pandemic and the existing crisis of hazardous pollutants. . in the atmosphere.
“In China, we have noticed that blockades involve very significant discounts on PM2. 5 concentrations, which means that policies targeting trade and traffic-related emissions can be very effective in the future,” Crippa said. “In Europe, these discounts were a little smaller, but it still has a significant effect, suggesting that you can think of other points to shape an effective mitigation strategy. “