Investigating connections between COVID-19 pandemic, air pollution and community interventions for Pakistan employing geoinformation technologies

Mehmood, Khalid; Bao, Yuhai; Petropoulos, George P.; Abbas, Roman; Abrar, Muhammad; Saifullah, -; Mustafa, Adnan; Soban, Ahmad; Saud, Shah; Ahmad, Manzoor; Hussain, Izhar; Fahad, Shah

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129809

Cited by 33 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…In the study of Zheng et al [66], the concentration of NO 2 decreases as the temperature rises (see Figure S4 for temperature behavior (T max , T min , and T mean )). Notwithstanding, before the lockdown, the spatiotemporal patterns of the tropospheric NO 2 concentration over Pakistan showed a relatively smooth pattern [67]. However, during the pandemic lockdown period in 2020, a decrease in NO 2 concentration was discovered.…”

Section: Covid-19 Lockdown Impact On Atmospheric Pollutionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Situation of Urban Mobility in Pakistan: Before, during, and after the COVID-19 Lockdown with Climatic Risk Perceptions

et al. 2021

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The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has impacted the usual global movement patterns, atmospheric pollutants, and climatic parameters. The current study sought to assess the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on urban mobility, atmospheric pollutants, and Pakistan’s climate. For the air pollution assessment, total column ozone (O3), sulphur dioxide (SO2), and tropospheric column nitrogen dioxide (NO2) data from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), aerosol optical depth (AOD) data from the Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR), and dust column mass density (PM2.5) data from the MERRA-2 satellite were used. Furthermore, these datasets are linked to climatic parameters (temperature, precipitation, wind speed). The Kruskal–Wallis H test (KWt) is used to compare medians among k groups (k > 2), and the Wilcoxon signed-rank sum test (WRST) is for analyzing the differences between the medians of two datasets. To make the analysis more effective, and to justify that the variations in air quality parameters are due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) was used. The findings revealed that the limitations on human mobility have lowered emissions, which has improved the air quality in Pakistan. The results of the study showed that the climatic parameters (precipitation, Tmax, Tmin, and Tmean) have a positive correlation and wind speed has a negative correlation with NO2 and AOD. This study found a significant decrease in air pollutants (NO2, SO2, O3, AOD) of 30–40% in Pakistan during the strict lockdown period. In this duration, the highest drop of about 28% in NO2 concentrations has been found in Karachi. Total column O3 did not show any reduction during the strict lockdown, but a minor decline was depicted as 0.38% in Lahore and 0.55% in Islamabad during the loosening lockdown. During strict lockdown, AOD was reduced up to 23% in Islamabad and 14.46% in Lahore. The results of KWt and WRST evident that all the mobility indices are significant (p < 0.05) in nature. The GLM justified that restraining human activities during the lockdown has decreased anthropogenic emissions and, as a result, improved air quality, particularly in metropolitan areas.

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Section: Covid-19 Lockdown Impact On Atmospheric Pollutionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Situation of Urban Mobility in Pakistan: Before, during, and after the COVID-19 Lockdown with Climatic Risk Perceptions

et al. 2021

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“… Mehmood et al (2021) raised the question of whether air pollution could be worsening the death rates due to COVID-19 in India and Pakistan, countries where the concentrations of PM 2.5 were then 700 and 1000 μg/m 3 in New Delhi and Lahore, respectively. These levels were between 28 and 40 times higher than the mean daily concentrations of PM 2.5 .…”

Section: Recent Studies By Continents and Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Pakistan, Mehmood et al (2021) examined the air quality and COVID-19 distribution during pre-lockdown, lockdown, relaxation period, and smart lockdown in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Islamabad. Data on the levels of PM 2.5 and NO 2 collected during the different periods were used.…”

Section: Recent Studies By Continents and Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive association between outdoor air pollution and the incidence and severity of COVID-19. A review of the recent scientific evidences

Marquès

Domingo

2022

Environmental Research

118

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In June 2020, we published a review focused on assessing the influence of various air pollutants on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and the severity of COVID-19 in patients infected by the coronavirus. The results of most of those reviewed studies suggested that chronic exposure to certain air pollutants might lead to more severe and lethal forms of COVID-19, as well as delays/complications in the recovery of the patients. Since then, a notable number of studies on this topic have been published, including also various reviews. Given the importance of this issue, we have updated the information published since our previous review. Taking together the previous results and those of most investigations now reviewed, we have concluded that there is a significant association between chronic exposure to various outdoor air pollutants: PM 2.5 , PM 10 , O 3 , NO 2 , SO 2 and CO, and the incidence/risk of COVID-19 cases, as well as the severity/mortality of the disease. Unfortunately, studies on the potential influence of other important air pollutants such as VOCs, dioxins and furans, or metals, are not available in the scientific literature. In relation to the influence of outdoor air pollutants on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, although the scientific evidence is much more limited, some studies point to PM 2.5 and PM 10 as potential airborne transmitters of the virus. Anyhow, it is clear that environmental air pollution plays an important negative role in COVID-19, increasing its incidence and mortality.

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“…According to Filonchyk et al [76], and Diamond and Wood [82], the concentrations of CO and NO 2 were reduced by about 20% and 30%, respectively, and by 50% in China. In the UK, NO 2 was reduced by about 42% during lockdown periods [107]. Thus, in all of the countries, it has been well-recognized that there was a substantial improvement in air quality during the lockdowns.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Country 2021 There were no significant improvements of air quality in Lahore and Karachi during lockdown periods, as compared to 2019 [107].…”

Section: Pakisthanmentioning

confidence: 91%

The Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Air Quality—A Global Review

Addas

Maghrabi

2021

Sustainability

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The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a serious public health threat and has had a tremendous impact on all spheres of the environment. The air quality across the world improved because of COVID-19 lockdowns. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, large numbers of studies have been carried out on the impact of lockdowns on air quality around the world, but no studies have been carried out on the systematic review on the impact of lockdowns on air quality. This study aims to systematically assess the bibliographic review on the impact of lockdowns on air quality around the globe. A total of 237 studies were identified after rigorous review, and 144 studies met the criteria for the review. The literature was surveyed from Scopus, Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, and the Google search engine. The results reveal that (i) most of the studies were carried out on Asia (about 65%), followed by Europe (18%), North America (6%), South America (5%), and Africa (3%); (ii) in the case of countries, the highest number of studies was performed on India (29%), followed by China (23%), the U.S. (5%), the U.K. (4%), and Italy; (iii) more than 60% of the studies included NO2 for study, followed by PM2.5 (about 50%), PM10, SO2, and CO; (iv) most of the studies were published by Science of the Total Environment (29%), followed by Aerosol and Air Quality Research (23%), Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health (9%), and Environmental Pollution (5%); (v) the studies reveal that there were significant improvements in air quality during lockdowns in comparison with previous time periods. Thus, this diversified study conducted on the impact of lockdowns on air quality will surely assist in identifying any gaps, as it outlines the insights of the current scientific research.

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Investigating connections between COVID-19 pandemic, air pollution and community interventions for Pakistan employing geoinformation technologies

Cited by 33 publications

References 66 publications

Situation of Urban Mobility in Pakistan: Before, during, and after the COVID-19 Lockdown with Climatic Risk Perceptions

Situation of Urban Mobility in Pakistan: Before, during, and after the COVID-19 Lockdown with Climatic Risk Perceptions

Positive association between outdoor air pollution and the incidence and severity of COVID-19. A review of the recent scientific evidences

The Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Air Quality—A Global Review

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