Anticipated future reductions in aerosol emissions are expected to accelerate warming and substantially change precipitation characteristics. It is therefore vital to identify existing patterns and possible future pathways of anthropogenic aerosol reductions. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted abrupt, global declines in transportation and industrial activities, providing opportunities to study the aerosol effects of pandemic-driven emissions changes. Here, measures of aerosol optical depth (AOD) from two satellite instruments are used to characterize aerosol burdens in 2020 in four Northern Hemisphere source regions (East & Central China, the United States, India, and Europe). In most regions, spring and summer AOD was substantially lower than in previous years. However, in India and East & Central China, the COVID-19 AOD signature was eclipsed by sources of natural variability (dust) and a multi-year trend, respectively, suggesting that COVID-19-related emissions reductions account for substantially less of the 2020 anomalies in these regions than might otherwise be assumed.

Anticipated future reductions in aerosol emissions are expected to accelerate warming and substantially change precipitation characteristics. Therefore, it is vital to identify the existing patterns and possible future pathways of anthropogenic aerosol reductions. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted abrupt, global declines in transportation and industrial activities, providing opportunities to study the aerosol effects of pandemic-driven emissions changes. Here, measurements of aerosol optical depth (AOD) from two satellite instruments were used to characterize aerosol burdens throughout 2020 in four Northern Hemisphere source regions (Eastern & Central China, the United States, India, and Europe). In most regions, record-low measures of AOD persisted beyond the earliest ‘lockdown’ periods of the pandemic. Record-low values were most concentrated during the boreal spring and summer months, when 56% to 72% of sampled months showed record-low AOD values for their respective regions. However, in India and Eastern & Central China, the COVID-19 AOD signature was eclipsed by sources of natural variability (dust) and a multi-year trend, respectively. In the United States and Europe, a likely COVID-19 signal peaks in the summer of 2020, contributing as much as −.01 to −.03 AOD units to observed anomalies.