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作者

Somnath Bar;Bikash Ranjan Parida;Shyama Prasad Mandal;Arvind Chandra Pandey;Navneet Kumar;Bibhudatta Mishra

来源

CITIES,Vol.117,Issue1,Article 103308

语言

英文

关键字

TROPOMI;NO2;PM2.5;Air quality;Urban design;Green-blue infrastructure

作者单位

Department of Geoinformatics, School of Natural Resource Management, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi 835205, India;Department of Ecology and Natural Resources Management, Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Genscherallee 3, 53113 Bonn, Germany;Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600N Wolfe Street, Baltimore 21287, MD, United States of America;Department of Geoinformatics, School of Natural Resource Management, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi 835205, India;Department of Ecology and Natural Resources Management, Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Genscherallee 3, 53113 Bonn, Germany;Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600N Wolfe Street, Baltimore 21287, MD, United States of America

摘要

SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) coronavirus has been causing enormous suffering, death, and economic losses worldwide. There are rigorous containment measures on industries, non-essential business, transportation, and citizen mobility to check the spread. The lockdowns may have an advantageous impact on reducing the atmospheric pollutants. This study has analyzed the change in atmospheric pollutants, based on the Sentinel–5Ps and ground-station observed data during partial to complete lockdown period in 2020. Results revealed that the mean tropospheric NO2 concentration substantially dropped in 2020 due to lockdown against the same period in 2019 by 18–40% over the major urban areas located in Europe (i.e. Madrid, Milan, Paris) and the USA (i.e. New York, Boston, and Springfield). Conversely, urban areas with partial to no lockdown measures (i.e. Warsaw, Pierre, Bismarck, and Lincoln) exhibited a relatively lower dropdown in mean NO2 concentration (3 to 7.5%). The role of meteorological variability was found to be negligible. Nevertheless, the reduced levels of atmospheric pollutants were primarily attributed to the shutdown of vehicles, power plants, and industrial emissions. Improvement in air quality during COVID-19 may be temporary, but regulatory bodies should learn to reduce air pollution on a long-term basis concerning the trade-offs between the environment, society, and economic growth. The intersection of urban design, health, and environment should be addressed by policy-makers to protect public health and sustainable urban policies could be adopted to build urban resilience against any future emergencies.