Reduction of air pollution in China due to industrial closure

The coronavirus epidemic has produced at least one beneficial impact that has led to a dramatic reduction in air pollution in China.

the National Administration of Space and Aeronautics The European Space Agency and the Agency have reported that their pollution monitoring satellites have found significant reductions in the amount of nitrogen dioxide, a gaseous air pollutant caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gas or diesel in the Chinese sky.

There is evidence that the change is at least in part related to the economic downturn following the coronavirus epidemic, said NASA.

Since January 23, when the Chinese authorities began to close transport links to and from Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, the country has also ordered various quarantines affecting tens of millions of people and the untimely closure of countless people. factories.

These measures, among others, have significantly reduced the amount of nitrogen dioxide in China. The decline was initially noted in and around Wuhan, but has since encompassed almost the entire vast country.

It is the first time that I have seen such a dramatic drop over such a large area for a specific event, said Fei Liu, air quality researcher at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Liu remembers witnessing a decline in nitrogen dioxide in various countries during the 2008 financial crisis, but the reductions were then gradual.

There is still this general slowdown (in Chinese industrial activity) at this time of year, said Barry Lefer, air quality scientist at NASA. Our long-term data (ozone monitoring instrument) allow us to see if these quantities are abnormal and why.

In 2020, nitrogen dioxide readings were 10% to 30% lower in eastern and central China compared to previous years.

This year, the reduction rate is greater than in previous years and it has lasted longer, added Liu. I am not surprised because many cities across the country have taken steps to minimize the spread of the virus.

The Chinese capital of beijing has long known one of the worst pollution in the world, mainly due to China's dependence on burning coal.

Ironically, however, Beijing has actually reduced its pollution levels since 2013, when the situation reached a crisis point. Since then, the average concentration of harmful PM2.5 atmospheric particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns has been reduced by 53% in the sky of Beijing.

The UN praised Beijing's efforts to reduce air pollution.

Joyce Msuya, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program, wrote that no other city or region on the planet has achieved such a feat, which is itself the result of & # 39; A huge investment of time, resources and political will.

Ma Jun, director of the Beijing-based non-governmental organization, the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, said that Beijing has improved its air quality through tighter controls on combustion coal, vehicle emission controls and the use of cleaner fuels, among other measures.

Beijing municipal authorities shut down all coal-fired power plants and asked residents to stop using coal-fired boilers in favor of natural gas and electricity in winter.

Between 2005 and 2018, the quantity of coal burned in Beijing increased from 30 million tonnes to 4 million. At the same time, the concentration of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere fell by 85%, from 28 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 4 micrograms per cubic meter in 2019.

For China as a whole, the national average concentration of PM2.5 amounted to 39 micrograms per cubic meter in 2018, a decrease of 9.3% compared to the previous year.

As China uses less coal, natural gas and renewable energy both earn their share of the nations' energy mix.

A direct result of the crackdown on coal and the acceleration of the country's post-industrial transition has been a remarkable reduction in air pollution, a top priority of the Xi (Jinping) administration, wrote Damien Ma, director of the Paulson Institute Think Tank.