After the outbreak of the "Covid-19" disease, the increasing number of city closures on a global scale, the procedures of quarantine and curfews, and the commitment of people to their homes and reducing their movement, led to reducing air pollution, according to the Dubai Future Foundation's future observatory.
The economist of environmental resources at Stanford University, Marshall Burke, made quick calculations of the recent decline in air pollution over parts of China, the impact this has had on saving human lives, and publishing his accounts on the Code of Global Economic, Environmental and Food Dynamics.
Although these figures will not remain stable for a long time, as a result of the improvement in the situation over time, Burke's calculations - at the very least - suggest that the lives saved locally due to the reduction of pollution will result in deaths caused by "Covid-19" in China.
"The breathing of polluted air contributes a lot to early deaths, according to a huge amount of evidence, and the natural question - even if it is strange - did the decrease in pollution caused by the economic turmoil caused by (Coffid-19) save lives?" More than the number of virus deaths? I think the answer is clear, and it is yes, even with the most conservative assumptions. ”
Burke's calculations show that reducing pollution for two months has saved the lives of nearly 4,000 children under the age of five and 73,000 adults over the age of 70 in China. This number is much greater than the current global death toll from the virus.
Burke's analysis relied on data from China only, before information increased on how "Covid-19" affected the rest of the world. With the second largest virus circulation concentrated in Italy, satellite data for northern Italy, after strict quarantine measures, showed a significant decrease in air pollution, as nitrogen dioxide specifically decreased, which is a gas emitted mainly by cars, trucks, power plants and some industrial facilities .
"The decrease of nitrogen dioxide emissions over the Po Valley in northern Italy is clear, and although there may be slight differences in the data due to cloud cover and weather changes, we are saying," said Klaus Zener, director of the European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel 5-B. "We are very confident that the apparent reduction in emissions will coincide with the quarantine causing traffic reduction and industrial activities."
These preliminary figures show that this global health catastrophe may constitute an opportunity to assess the necessities in aspects of modern life, and to know the possible positive changes, if we change our habits on a global scale.
4000 children and 73,000 adults were saved from the pollution results.
Satellite data showed a significant decrease in air pollution.