Weather indicators and improving air quality in association with COVID-19 pandemic in India.

Rabin Chakrabortty,Subodh Chandra Pal,Mehebub Sahana,Alireza Arabameri,Manoranjan Ghosh,Biswajeet Pradhan,Phuong Thao Thi Ngo,Paramita Roy,Biswajit Das,Ayan Mondal,Ali P Yunus,Asish Saha,Sadhan Malik,Indrajit Chowdhuri

doi:10.1007/s00500-021-06012-9

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic enforced nationwide lockdown, which has restricted human activities from March 24 to May 3, 2020, resulted in an improved air quality across India. The present research investigates the connection between COVID-19 pandemic-imposed lockdown and its relation to the present air quality in India; besides, relationship between climate variables and daily new affected cases of Coronavirus and mortality in India during the this period has also been examined. The selected seven air quality pollutant parameters (PM10, PM2.5, CO, NO2, SO2, NH3, and O3) at 223 monitoring stations and temperature recorded in New Delhi were used to investigate the spatial pattern of air quality throughout the lockdown. The results showed that the air quality has improved across the country and average temperature and maximum temperature were connected to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This outcomes indicates that there is no such relation between climatic parameters and outbreak and its associated mortality. This study will assist the policy maker, researcher, urban planner, and health expert to make suitable strategies against the spreading of COVID-19 in India and abroad.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00500-021-06012-9.

Highlights

The epidemic has sparked a worldwide economic catastrophe unlike any seen in the past decades, with ramifications that will last for years
The results showed that the air quality has improved across the country and average temperature and maximum temperature were connected to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic
Tobıas et al 2020 found that air pollutant materials decreased significantly during the two-week lockdown period for example, particulate matter size less than 10 microns (PM10) decreased by 28% to 31.0%, and nitrogen dioxide decreased by 45% to 51%; on the contrary, ozone gas increased by 33% to 57% in Barcelona

Summary

Introduction

The epidemic has sparked a worldwide economic catastrophe unlike any seen in the past decades, with ramifications that will last for years. The scattered empirical evidences have been suggested that paradoxically, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has improved air quality around the world, for instance, China, France, and. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has first reported that lockdown has reduced the aerosol and nitrogen dioxide over Wuhan in China (NASA 2020). The European Space Agency (2020) had been continuously reported that in Italy, Spain, and France emissions reduced by 20 to 30% during the month of March 2020 due to the lockdown situation (ESA 2020). Tobıas et al 2020 found that air pollutant materials decreased significantly during the two-week lockdown period for example, PM10 decreased by 28% to 31.0%, and nitrogen dioxide decreased by 45% to 51%; on the contrary, ozone gas increased by 33% to 57% in Barcelona.

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