{"id":43771,"date":"2020-06-24T05:27:14","date_gmt":"2020-06-24T03:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=43771"},"modified":"2021-12-01T13:48:31","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T12:48:31","slug":"its-time-to-say-goodbye-air-pollution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/43771\/its-time-to-say-goodbye-air-pollution\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s time to say goodbye to air pollution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many parts of the world experienced the joys of cleaner air during the COVD-19 lockdown when human activities were restricted by the lockdown policies. Sadly – but not unexpectedly – as cities and countries begin to ease these policies, air pollution is bouncing back.<\/a> According to the recent analysis, air pollution in China has already hit pre-pandemic levels<\/a> around the end of April to early May, and the Philippines appears to follow suit<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Every year, around 4.5 million premature deaths<\/a> are linked to air pollution from fossil fuel burning. In 2018, it has been reported that the global cost of air pollution reached US$8 billion per day<\/a>, which is roughly 3.3% of the world\u2019s GDP. And according to the WHO<\/a>, 91% of the global population live in areas that exceed the WHO air quality standard.<\/p>\n\n

What\u2019s worse, evidence suggests <\/a>that air pollution damages the body’s ability to resist respiratory viruses, possibly making people more vulnerable to COVID-19, and air pollution is a risk factor for many chronic diseases that make COVID-19 more severe. Another study<\/a> discovered that air pollution could potentially increase COVID-19 mortality.<\/p>\n\n

And just to remind you again, this same air pollution is coming back.<\/p>\n\n

\"Namsan
Namsan – the iconic mountain in Seoul, Korea – is blurry in thick ultra-fine dust (right), compared to the clear day (left).
\u00a9 Soojung Do \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Lessons from the COVID-19 lockdown<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

The world changed dramatically throughout the coronavirus crisis. Air pollution – or rather the lack of – have particularly attracted global attention as many countries witnessed clear, blue skies for the first time in a long time.<\/p>\n\n

How was this possible? Many factories and industrial facilities ceased operations during the pandemic, which naturally led to decreased fossil fuel burnings all around the world. In some countries like India<\/a>, power plants burned lower amounts of fossil fuels as well. Streets and highways became empty and devoid of the usual hustle and bustle, allowing a huge cut in transport emissions.  <\/p>\n\n

And this dramatic standstill of the world\u2019s business-as-usual operations reflected in the air we breathed. Satellite data from NASA<\/a> shows a significant decline in nitrogen dioxide (NO2<\/sub>) in major countries since the outbreak of COVID-19. A special report from AirVisual<\/a> reveals that the level of fine particulate matter (PM2.5<\/sub>) has significantly dropped in 10 major cities worldwide after the lockdown. In India, a country notorious for its air pollution, the Himalayas have become visible<\/a> for the first time in 30 years, and showed a huge reduction of air pollution in the first 10 days of lockdown<\/a> according to Greenpeace India analysis.<\/p>\n\n

\"Coronavirus
Due to the coronavirus shutdown, public squares, parks and streets in and around Berlin, Germany are almost deserted.
\u00a9 Gordon Welters \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The pandemic was, and still is, an extremely challenging time for many people all around the world. But it also taught us some valuable lessons: <\/p>\n\n