The improvement of air quality in 2020, which is attributed to lockdown and in the travel and travel restrictions imposed, it was impressive. But it was also temporary, according to the United Nations.
Last year, restrictions due to Covid-19 caused a temporary reduction in air pollution in many parts of the world, especially in large metropolises, according to a report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a UN agency.
At the same time, however, there has been an increase in certain pollutants, which are dangerous to health, the effects of which on climate change are difficult to determine.
«H Covid-19 “It was an unexpected experiment in air quality,” said “temporary improvements at the local level,” said Petri Taalas, the WMO secretary-general. “But a pandemic cannot replace a systematic action to tackle the main causes of pollution and climate change,” he said.
Air pollution, especially particulate matter, poses a health risk and is responsible for thousands of deaths each year. The WMO report shows that in some cities the concentration of microparticles decreased by up to 40% during quarantine, in the spring of 2020, compared to the period 2015-19. However, particulate emissions increased and air quality deteriorated again when the measures expired.
The report also emphasizes that the situation was more complicated than it seems at first glance, as broadcast by Reuters and Agence France-Presse and relayed by the Athenian News Agency. Particulate matter emissions from human activity may have fallen, but last year was also marked by “unprecedented sandstorms and fires that affected air quality.” The quarantine also reduced greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, but also reduced particulate matter, such as sulfur-containing ones, said Oksana Tarasova, director of the department. of the WMO Atmospheric Environment.
The WMO has also observed an increase in the concentration of ozone, a gas that protects against the sun’s ultraviolet rays when in the stratosphere but is dangerous to health when near the ground. This is most likely due to the reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions from transport, which depletes ozone.
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