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Volta M, Giostra U, Guariso G, Baldasano J, Lutz M, Kerschbaumer A, Rauterberg-Wulff A, Ferreira F, Mendes L, Monjardino J, Moussiopοulos N, Vlachokostas C, Viaene P, Stijn J, Turrini E, De Angelis E, Carnevale C, Williams ML, Maione M. The greatest air quality experiment ever: Policy suggestions from the COVID-19 lockdown in twelve European cities. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0277428. [PMID: 36449530 PMCID: PMC9710802 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) hit Europe in January 2020. By March, Europe was the active centre of the pandemic. As a result, widespread "lockdown" measures were enforced across the various European countries, even if to a different extent. Such actions caused a dramatic reduction, especially in road traffic. This event can be considered the most significant experiment ever conducted in Europe to assess the impact of a massive switch-off of atmospheric pollutant sources. In this study, we focus on in situ concentration data of the main atmospheric pollutants measured in twelve European cities, characterized by different climatology, emission sources, and strengths. We propose a methodology for the fair comparison of the impact of lockdown measures considering the non-stationarity of meteorological conditions and emissions, which are progressively declining due to the adoption of stricter air quality measures. The analysis of these unmatched circumstances allowed us to estimate the impact of a nearly zero-emission urban transport scenario on air quality in 12 European cities. The clearest result, common to all the cities, is that a dramatic traffic reduction effectively reduces NO2 concentrations. In contrast, each city's PM and ozone concentrations can respond differently to the same type of emission reduction measure. From the policy point of view, these findings suggest that measures targeting urban traffic alone may not be the only effective option for improving air quality in cities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marialuisa Volta
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Civile, Università di Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Umberto Giostra
- Dipartimento di Scienze Pure e Applicate, Università di Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
| | - Giorgio Guariso
- Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Jose Baldasano
- Centro Nacional de Supercomputación, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Martin Lutz
- Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Mobilität, Verbraucher-und Klimaschutz, Berlin, Germany
| | - Andreas Kerschbaumer
- Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Mobilität, Verbraucher-und Klimaschutz, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Francisco Ferreira
- Departamento de Ciências e Engenharia do Ambiente, Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
| | - Luìsa Mendes
- Departamento de Ciências e Engenharia do Ambiente, Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
| | - Joana Monjardino
- Departamento de Ciências e Engenharia do Ambiente, Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal
| | | | | | | | | | - Enrico Turrini
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Civile, Università di Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Elena De Angelis
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Civile, Università di Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Claudio Carnevale
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Civile, Università di Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | | | - Michela Maione
- Dipartimento di Scienze Pure e Applicate, Università di Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
- Istituto di Scienze dell’Atmosfera e del Clima, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Bologna, Italy
- * E-mail:
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Tong L, Liu Y, Meng Y, Dai X, Huang L, Luo W, Yang M, Pan Y, Zheng J, Xiao H. Surface ozone changes during the COVID-19 outbreak in China: An insight into the pollution characteristics and formation regimes of ozone in the cold season. JOURNAL OF ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY 2022; 80:103-120. [PMID: 36248311 PMCID: PMC9540070 DOI: 10.1007/s10874-022-09443-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The countrywide lockdown in China during the COVID-19 pandemic provided a natural experiment to study the characteristics of surface ozone (O3). Based on statistical analysis of air quality across China before and during the lockdown, the tempo-spatial variations and site-specific formation regimes of wintertime O3 were analyzed. The results showed that the O3 pollution with concentrations higher than air quality standards could occur widely in winter, which had been aggravated by the emission reduction during the lockdown. On the national scale of China, with the significant decrease (54.03%) in NO2 level from pre-lockdown to COVID-19 lockdown, the maximum daily 8-h average concentration of O3 (MDA8h O3) increased by 39.43% from 49.05 to 64.22 μg/m3. This increase was comprehensively contributed by attenuated NOx suppression and favorable meteorological changes on O3 formation during the lockdown. As to the pollution states of different monitoring stations, surface O3 responded oppositely to the consistent decreased NO2 across China. The O3 levels were found to increase in the northern and central regions, but decrease in the southern region, where the changes in both meteorology (e.g. temperature drops) and precursors (reduced emissions) during the lockdown had diminished local O3 production. The spatial differences in NOx levels generally dictate the site-specific O3 formation regimes in winter, with NOx-titration/VOCs-sensitive regimes being dominant in northern and central China, while VOCs-sensitive/transition regimes being dominant in southern China. These findings highlight the influence of NOx saturation levels on winter O3 formation and the necessity of VOCs emission reductions on O3 pollution controls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Tong
- Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment & Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021 China
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, Ningbo (Beilun) Zhongke Haixi Industrial Technology Innovation Center, Ningbo, 315800 China
| | - Yu Liu
- Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment & Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021 China
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, Ningbo (Beilun) Zhongke Haixi Industrial Technology Innovation Center, Ningbo, 315800 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
| | - Yang Meng
- Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment & Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021 China
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, Ningbo (Beilun) Zhongke Haixi Industrial Technology Innovation Center, Ningbo, 315800 China
| | - Xiaorong Dai
- Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment & Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021 China
- College of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Wanli University, Ningbo, 315100 China
| | - Leijun Huang
- College of Mathematics and Computer Science, Zhejiang A & F University, Hangzhou, 311300 China
| | - Wenxian Luo
- College of Mathematics and Computer Science, Zhejiang A & F University, Hangzhou, 311300 China
| | - Mengrong Yang
- Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment & Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021 China
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, Ningbo (Beilun) Zhongke Haixi Industrial Technology Innovation Center, Ningbo, 315800 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
| | - Yong Pan
- Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment & Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021 China
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, Ningbo (Beilun) Zhongke Haixi Industrial Technology Innovation Center, Ningbo, 315800 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
| | - Jie Zheng
- Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment & Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021 China
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, Ningbo (Beilun) Zhongke Haixi Industrial Technology Innovation Center, Ningbo, 315800 China
| | - Hang Xiao
- Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment & Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021 China
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, Ningbo (Beilun) Zhongke Haixi Industrial Technology Innovation Center, Ningbo, 315800 China
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Karl T, Graus M, Striednig M, Lamprecht C, Hammerle A, Wohlfahrt G, Held A, von der Heyden L, Deventer MJ, Krismer A, Haun C, Feichter R, Lee J. Urban eddy covariance measurements reveal significant missing NO x emissions in Central Europe. Sci Rep 2017; 7:2536. [PMID: 28559587 PMCID: PMC5449400 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-02699-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2016] [Accepted: 04/19/2017] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution is emerging as a primary environmental concern across Europe. While some large European metropolitan areas are already in breach of EU safety limits for NO2, this phenomenon does not seem to be only restricted to large industrialized areas anymore. Many smaller scale populated agglomerations including their surrounding rural areas are seeing frequent NO2 concentration violations. The question of a quantitative understanding of different NOx emission sources is therefore of immanent relevance for climate and air chemistry models as well as air pollution management and health. Here we report simultaneous eddy covariance flux measurements of NOx, CO2, CO and non methane volatile organic compound tracers in a city that might be considered representative for Central Europe and the greater Alpine region. Our data show that NOx fluxes are largely at variance with modelled emission projections, suggesting an appreciable underestimation of the traffic related atmospheric NOx input in Europe, comparable to the weekend-weekday effect, which locally changes ozone production rates by 40%.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Karl
- Institute of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
| | - M Graus
- Institute of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - M Striednig
- Institute of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - C Lamprecht
- Institute of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - A Hammerle
- Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - G Wohlfahrt
- Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - A Held
- Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Bayreuth, Innsbruck, Germany
| | - L von der Heyden
- Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Bayreuth, Innsbruck, Germany
| | - M J Deventer
- Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley, USA
| | - A Krismer
- Abteilung Waldschutz, Amt der Tiroler Landesregierung, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - C Haun
- Abteilung Geoinformation, Amt der Tiroler Landesregierung, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - R Feichter
- Amt für Verkehrsplanung, Umwelt, Magistrat III Stadt Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - J Lee
- National Centre for Atmospheric Science and Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, UK
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Net S, Gligorovski S, Pietri S, Wortham H. Photoenhanced degradation of veratraldehyde upon the heterogeneous ozone reactions. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2010; 12:7603-11. [DOI: 10.1039/b922957d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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Cieslik S. Ozone fluxes over various plant ecosystems in Italy: a review. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2009; 157:1487-1496. [PMID: 19027210 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2008.09.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2008] [Revised: 09/26/2008] [Accepted: 09/27/2008] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Among air pollutants, ozone is the most important stressor to vegetation, which undergoes damage and biomass reduction after penetration of ozone molecules into the leaf tissues through the stomata. Stomatal ozone fluxes are considered the governing factor needed to assess risk to plant health due to ozone. Although this parameter may be calculated by modeling, direct measurements are scarce. Moreover, southern European situations, especially regarding Italy, require special attention due to the decoupling between ozone concentrations and fluxes. This work reviews ozone flux measurements made during the last 15 years through Italy.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Cieslik
- Joint Research Centre, I-21027 Ispra, Italy.
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Deguillaume L, Beekmann M, Derognat C. Uncertainty evaluation of ozone production and its sensitivity to emission changes over the Ile-de-France region during summer periods. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2008. [DOI: 10.1029/2007jd009081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Neftel A. Sensitivity of photooxidant production in the Milan Basin: An overview of results from a EUROTRAC-2 Limitation of Oxidant Production field experiment. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2002. [DOI: 10.1029/2001jd001263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Dommen J. Characterization of the photooxidant formation in the metropolitan area of Milan from aircraft measurements. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2002. [DOI: 10.1029/2000jd000283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Martilli A. Simulation of the ozone formation in the northern part of the Po Valley. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2002. [DOI: 10.1029/2001jd000534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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