Chennai: Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, space and ground-based observations have shown that earth’s atmosphere has seen significant reductions in some air pollutants.
However, scientists wanted to know how much of that decline can be attributed to changes in human activity during pandemic-related shutdowns, versus how much would have occurred in a pandemic-free 2020.
Using computer models to generate a Covid-free 2020 for comparison, NASA researchers found that since February, pandemic restrictions have reduced global nitrogen dioxide concentrations by nearly 20 per cent.
According to NASA’s official website, the results were presented at the 2020 International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis.
‘We all knew the lockdowns were going to have an impact on air quality,’ said lead author Christoph Keller with Universities Space Research Association (USRA) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Keller works in Goddard’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO), which uses high-tech computer models to help track the chemistry of the ocean and the atmosphere, and forecast future climate scenarios.