U012-06
Inconsistent NO2 drops during COVID-19 lockdowns: lessons for protecting near-term public health and designing longer-term environmental policies

Thursday, 10 December 2020: 10:59
Susan Anenberg1, Daniel L Goldberg1,2, Gaige Hunter Kerr3, Zifeng Lu2, Debora Griffin4, Chris A McLinden4, Bryan N Duncan5, Joshua Miller6, Ray J Minjares7 and Joel Dreessen8, (1)George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States, (2)Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, United States, (3)George Washington University, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Washington, DC, United States, (4)Environment and Climate Change Canada, Air Quality Research Division, Toronto, ON, Canada, (5)NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (6)International Council on Clean Transportation, Santa Clara, CA, United States, (7)Int''l Council on Clean Transp, San Francisco, CA, United States, (8)Maryland Department of the Environment, Air Monitoring Program, Baltimore, MD, United States
Abstract:
Understanding how air pollution emissions and concentrations have changed during COVID-19 physical distancing measures can inform the public health response to the pandemic, longer-term environmental policies, and efforts to improve health equity. Satellite observations from the OMI and TROPOMI sensors reveal inconsistencies in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) changes between cities around the world during periods of physical distancing. This talk will address factors that may be contributing to these inconsistent NO2 responses to major activity level changes in NOx emission sources, as well as which geographical neighborhoods and population subgroups may have experienced smaller air quality improvements than others. Finally, the talk will highlight what we can learn from studying air pollution changes during this unprecedented and sudden transformation in human behavior.
<< Previous Abstract | Next Abstract >>