Global Changes in Secondary Atmospheric Pollutants during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic

Gaubert, Benjamin; Bouarar, Idir; Doumbia, Thierno; Liu, Yiming; Stavrakou, Trissevgeni; Deroubaix, Adrien; Darras, Sabine; Elguindi, Nellie; Granier, Claire; He, Cenlin; Müller, Jean-François; Shi, Xiaoqin; Tilmes, Simone; Wang, Tao; Brasseur, Guy

doi:10.1002/essoar.10504703.1

Cited by 4 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…During the period under investigation, the O 3 concentration was in the range of the observations in the previous seven years (see Figure S5 in Appendix S1 in the additional supporting information). A modeling study supports the conclusion that the eastward transport of O 3 in the lowermost troposphere was slightly reduced during the study period (Gaubert et al ., 2020). In addition, another study based on O 3 stations also reported a decrease of 7% from 1 to 8 km in altitude (Steinbrecht et al ., 2020).…”

Section: O3 Response Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of surface ozone concentration to emission reduction and meteorology during the COVID‐19 lockdown in Europe

Deroubaix

Brasseur

Gaubert

et al. 2021

Meteorological Applications

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The lockdown period (March–May 2020) during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Europe led to a reduction in the anthropogenic emissions of primary pollutants. For three‐quarters of over 1,100 available monitoring stations, the average nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) concentrations decreased by at least 2.7 μg·m −3 (or 25%) compared with the average concentrations recorded during the same period of the previous seven years. This reduction was not specific to urban or rural areas because the relative reduction was of similar magnitude in both areas. The ozone (O 3 ) response differed spatially, with positive anomalies in Northern Europe and negative anomalies in Southwestern Europe. Reduced cloudiness and related enhanced radiation in Northern Europe played a significant role in the increase of surface O 3 concentrations by shifting the photochemical partitioning between NO 2 and O 3 toward more O 3 . The level of total oxidant (O x = O 3 + NO 2 ) remained unchanged, except in Southwestern Europe where it decreased. Several episodes lasting a few days of a high level of total oxidants were observed in Northern Europe. The results illustrate the complexity of the atmospheric response to the unprecedented reduction in the emission of primary pollutants.

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Section: O3 Response Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of surface ozone concentration to emission reduction and meteorology during the COVID‐19 lockdown in Europe

Deroubaix

Brasseur

Gaubert

et al. 2021

Meteorological Applications

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“…Primary species such as nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and aerosols measured from earth‐observing satellites and in situ monitors exhibited the most substantial decreases, while complex chemistry and competing influences from the biosphere and meteorology contributed to smaller, sometimes inconsistent, changes in secondary species (e.g., total fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, and ozone) and greenhouse gases (Archer et al., 2020; Goldberg et al., 2020; Le Quéré et al., 2020; Z. Liu et al., 2020; Siciliano et al., 2020; Zheng et al., 2020). Beyond satellite remote sensing, several academic and government institutions used chemical transport model simulations with adjusted emissions or business‐as‐usual simulations to identify air quality changes from the pandemic (Gaubert et al., 2021). Lockdown‐related emission changes could also feed back into the Earth system and influence hydrometeorological and temperature extremes due to microphysical and radiative forcing effects (Fuglestvedt et al., 2003; Gettelman et al., 2021).…”

Section: The Impacts Of Covid‐19 On the Earth Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, images of improved visibility in Los Angeles, US and Delhi, India widely circulated on social media and in the mainstream media, often attributing the clearer air to the drop in human mobility despite the fact that seasonal cycles and weather also substantially influence air quality (Holcombe & O'Key, 2020; Plumer & Popovich, 2020). Scientists rapidly developed novel approaches to disentangle the effects of anthropogenic emission change from natural variability using a wide range of methods, including satellite remote sensing (Bauwens et al., 2020; Ding et al., 2020; Goldberg et al., 2020; F. Liu et al., 2020; Sathe et al., 2020), chemical transport modeling (Gaubert et al., 2021; Keller et al., 2021; Miyazaki et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020), ground observations (Berman & Ebisu, 2020; Chen et al., 2020; Fu et al., 2020; Parker et al., 2020; Tanzer‐Gruener et al., 2020; Turner et al., 2020; Venter et al., 2020), and air monitoring studies from aircraft (Frost et al., 2020; Ren et al., 2020). These new approaches can be valuable for future explorations of how rapid changes in human activity and/or policy influence air quality, given historic challenges with attributing air quality change to specific policies.…”

Section: Science In the Time Of Covid‐19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Shaping the Future of Science: COVID‐19 Highlighting the Importance of GeoHealth

et al. 2021

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is providing an unprecedented opportunity to observe how changes in human behavior during lockdown have impacted the Earth system, how aspects of the Earth system may affect COVID-19 disease dynamics, and the role of geoscientists during the pandemic. The pandemic has highlighted the necessity of bridging the Earth system and human health through scientific research. Through these unfortunate and dire circumstances, GeoHealth has been brought to the forefront of visibility in the geosciences-especially throughout the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2020 (AGU20) and in the public health policies designed to mitigate the spread of the disease. GeoHealth lies at the nexus of humans, health, and the Earth system (Figure 1), all of which are interconnected to the COVID-19 pandemic.Though the pandemic pushed many professional meetings, including AGU20, to a fully virtual platform, the scientific response and communication remained. AGU20 featured 47 sessions under the umbrella of COVID-19, partitioned into three different themes: impact of COVID-19 on the Earth system, impact of changes in the Earth system on COVID-19, and science in the time of COVID-19. Seven separate AGU sections featured sessions on COVID-19 and there were 12 other supporting sessions formatted as innovative, union, plenary, and town halls.The annual theme for AGU20 was "Shaping the Future of Science," which was designed to focus on how the decisions we make now will affect the future. COVID-19 and its connection to the Earth system has demonstrated how GeoHealth, a relatively new AGU section, is an imperative addition to the geoscience community. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed geoscientists to think outside the box and consider how our access to data and geospatial analytic methods can help the COVID-19 response and inform both short-Abstract From the heated debates over the airborne transmission of the novel coronavirus to the abrupt Earth system changes caused by the sudden lockdowns, the dire circumstances resulting from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have brought the field of GeoHealth to the forefront of visibility in science and policy. The pandemic has inadvertently provided an opportunity to study how human response has impacted the Earth system, how the Earth system may impact the pandemic, and the capacity of GeoHealth to inform real-time policy. The lessons learned throughout our responses to the COVID-19 pandemic are shaping the future of GeoHealth.Plain Language Summary From the heated debates over whether the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is primarily spread by airborne droplets to the abrupt changes in human behavior such as less driving and factory emissions that have caused changes to the Earth, the pandemic has highlighted the importance of the scientific field called GeoHealth. GeoHealth is the scientific study connecting humans, health, and the Earth-all of which are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The unique circumstances from the pandemic ha...

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“…European cities recorded a decrease in CO 2 emissions from 8 to 75% (https://www.icos-cp.eu/event/933) and NO 2 down to 62% [20]. A decrease in atmospheric concentrations of primary pollutants (NO x , CO, SO 2 , volatile organic components) led to a change in the ozone concentrations of secondary organic aerosols, depending on the meteorological conditions of the region [21]. It was assumed that the decline in eco-nomic activity would lead to a significant reduction in PM2.5 in the aerosol load of the atmosphere.…”

Section: Environmental Problemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Restrictive Measures during the Covid-19 Pandemic on Aerosol Pollution of the Atmosphere of the Moscow Megalopolis

Popovicheva

Chichaeva

Kasimov

2021

Her. Russ. Acad. Sci.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has led to self-isolation and business interruptions around the world. On the basis of measurements of concentrations of an indicator of aerosol emissions from fuel combustion products-black carbon-it is shown that the decrease in economic activity had a significant effect on the pollution of the Moscow atmosphere. The decrease in the intensity of the traffic and the change in the operating mode of industrial and heat-and-power enterprises of the city during the period of restrictive measures in the spring of 2020 were determined by the dynamics of the daily and weekly trend of black carbon levels. The decrease in the fraction of fossil fuel combustion at this time correlates with the increased contribution of biomass combustion in the residential sector and during agricultural fires around the megalopolis. Changes in the intensity and direction of sources of high concentrations of black carbon were observed during the recovery of economic activity in the summer of 2020. The decrease in the concentration of black carbon and fine particles less than 2.5 μm in size (PM2.5) in the urban atmosphere reflects a decline in economic activity and an improvement in air quality and conditions for maintaining the health of the Moscow population during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Global Changes in Secondary Atmospheric Pollutants during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 4 publications

References 19 publications

Response of surface ozone concentration to emission reduction and meteorology during the COVID‐19 lockdown in Europe

Response of surface ozone concentration to emission reduction and meteorology during the COVID‐19 lockdown in Europe

Shaping the Future of Science: COVID‐19 Highlighting the Importance of GeoHealth

Impact of Restrictive Measures during the Covid-19 Pandemic on Aerosol Pollution of the Atmosphere of the Moscow Megalopolis

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