As the Covid-19 pandemic is sweeping across the globe,
many countries and regions have gone into lockdown
confining people to their homes
and drastically reducing economic and social activities.
In many places road traffic has halted
and passenger airplanes stay grounded.
Some effects of these radical changes on our planet
were visible in only a few weeks.
From orbit
the European fleet of Copernicus satellites have observed these rapid changes.
From the waters of the Venice lagoon clearing up,
to changes in our atmosphere
where a swift reduction in NO2 concentration has occurred
especially in regions which have gone into lockdown.
So with Sentinel-5P of our Copernicus programme,
we have observed actually quite some stunning images of concentrations of NO2.
NO2 is one of the gases that is created directly by people, school, traffic and an industry.
And these are really the main polluting sources.
And interesting part,
or interesting fact of NO2
is that it is a gas that is a relatively short lived.
It lives for half a day,
roughly a few hours,
and therefore
it can be directly traced to the pollution source.
That means traffic and industry where it is produced.
Recent measurements of NO2 of end of March, early April
have shown that over several cities in Europe,
which have been heavily affected by the lockdown
after the coronavirus restrictions have been applied,
that these values are going down by about 50 percent.
By measuring concentrations of NO2 from space
ESA and its scientific partners
can indirectly determine the impact of corona measures on industrial and economic activity.
Over major cities across the globe
a massive reduction in NO2 has been recorded
whenever a lockdown has been put in place.
In Los Angeles for example the famous smog has disappeared
and in regions in India
the peaks of Himalayas can been seen again for the first time in a generation.
Other regions,
for instance in eastern Europe,
industrial activity has continued
and these are also visible from space
as they do not show a reduction in NO2 pollution.
The reduction of NO2 pollution is in itself good news
as it does affects people’s health.
NO2 is known to cause respiratory problems
and aggravate underlying conditions such as asthma.
However today the reduction in air pollution
comes at a very severe cost in terms of economic growth,
mental wellbeing
and disposable income
with millions of people confined to their homes and even losing their jobs.
So this drastic reduction is not a sustainable one.
But as countries are now preparing to restart their economies with massive stimulus packages
there might be a choice to do things differently.
I think there it is very important that we are using this momentum.
But also the situation seeing clear skies today
and hearing the birds outside our windows
that we realized how important it is to preserve our planet,
our nature,
and therefore do the investments of the stimulus package in a way that they are sustainable
and they are still in line in harmony with our planet.
One way or another.
It is estimated that air pollution in general
causes over 500 000 premature deaths in Europe every year.
And cleaner air is certain to be beneficial for our health.
So as we battle the Covid crisis,
we should try to innovate and shape our world for a better tomorrow.
From Space
ESA will continue to give us the data we need
to take the pulse of our planet…
and act on it