No Drop In NO2 Levels As Virus Hits India

China saw emissions drop after strong measures against COVID-19

- Ankit Kumar in New Delhi

The outbreak of the novel Coronavirus, or Covid-19, has forced countries across the world to take extreme steps — one of these has been a complete lockdown of cities.

Both China and Italy adopted these extreme measures in order to contain the outbreak once it went out of control. While there is no conclusive way to quantify the effect of restricted human activity, its imprint on atmosphere is somewhat measurable.

Scientists have observed a pattern, which links a decreased level of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), first over China and now over Italy, since the implementation of mass quarantines.