The impact of COVID-19 control measures on air quality in China

Silver, Ben1; He, Xinyue1,2; Arnold, Steve R.1; Spracklen, Dominick, V1

2020-08

10.1088/1748-9326/aba3a2

Environmental Research Letters   影响因子和分区

1748-9326

The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China in January 2020 prompted substantial control measures including social distancing measures, suspension of public transport and industry, and widespread cordon sanitaires ('lockdowns'), that have led to a decrease in industrial activity and air pollution emissions over a prolonged period. We use a 5 year dataset from China's air quality monitoring network to assess the impact of control measures on air pollution. Pollutant concentration time series are decomposed to account for the inter-annual trend, seasonal cycles and the effect of Lunar New Year, which coincided with the COVID-19 outbreak. Over 2015-2019, there were significant negative trends in particulate matter (PM2.5, -6% yr(-1)) and sulphur dioxide (SO2, -12% yr(-1)) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2, -2.2% yr(-1)) whereas there were positive trends in ozone (O-3, + 2.8% yr(-1)). We quantify the change in air quality during the LNY holiday week, during which pollutant concentrations increase on LNY's day, followed by reduced concentrations in the rest of the week. After accounting for interannual trends and LNY we find NO(2)and PM concentrations were significantly lower during the lockdown period than would be expected, but there were no significant impacts on O-3. Largest reductions occurred in NO2, with concentrations 27.0% lower on average across China, during the lockdown. Average concentrations of PM(2.5)and PM(10)across China were respectively 10.5% and 21.4% lower during the lockdown period. The largest reductions were in Hubei province, where NO(2)concentrations were 50.5% lower than expected during the lockdown. Concentrations of affected pollutants returned to expected levels during April, after control measures were relaxed.

air pollution SPRING FESTIVAL China OZONE POLLUTION COVID-19 PM2.5 trend REGRESSION seasonal cycle FIREWORKS lunar new year AEROSOL lockdown HEALTH

SCI ; EI

英语

其他

[NE/N006895/1]

Environmental Sciences & Ecology ; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

Environmental Sciences ; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

WOS:000556770500001

IOP PUBLISHING LTD

20203409084239

Disease control ; Industrial emissions ; Air pollution control ; Quality control ; Sulfur dioxide ; Air quality ; Nitrogen oxides

Air Pollution Sources:451.1 ; Air Pollution Control:451.2 ; Health Care:461.7 ; Inorganic Compounds:804.2 ; Quality Assurance and Control:913.3

Web of Science

1.Univ Leeds, Sch Earth & Environm, Leeds, W Yorkshire, England;
2.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Sch Environm Sci & Engn, Shenzhen, Peoples R China

Silver, Ben,He, Xinyue,Arnold, Steve R.,et al. The impact of COVID-19 control measures on air quality in China[J]. Environmental Research Letters,2020,15(8).

Silver, Ben,He, Xinyue,Arnold, Steve R.,&Spracklen, Dominick, V.(2020).The impact of COVID-19 control measures on air quality in China.Environmental Research Letters,15(8).

Silver, Ben,et al."The impact of COVID-19 control measures on air quality in China".Environmental Research Letters 15.8(2020).