Last year\u2019s unprecedented lockdown measures led to a dramatic \u2014 but brief \u2014 improvement in air quality around the world, the United Nations\u2019 weather agency said in a new report Friday.<\/b>
\nLast year\u2019s unprecedented lockdown measures led to a dramatic \u2014 but brief \u2014 improvement in air quality around the world, the United Nations\u2019 weather agency said in a new report Friday. The temporary reduction in key air pollutants was more significant in urban areas, where offices and retail stores were forced to shut down to slow the spread of COVID-19, but the drop was not uniform across all regions. While some areas saw declines of up to 70% in average levels of nitrogen oxides, others saw small increases, according to the World Meteorological Organization\u2019s inaugural Air Quality and Climate Bulletin. The level of particulate matter in southeast Asia was especially lower, with drops of up to 40% compared to the same periods every year between 2015 to 2019, the report shows. Carbon monoxide levels plunged in all regions, with up to 30% drops in parts of South America and 25% in East Asia, according to the analysis. The short-lived and patchy improvements were offset by other types of pollution in some parts of the world. Examples include the wildfires in Australia, smoke from biomass burning in the U.S. and Siberia and sandstorms that traveled from Africa to Europe and North America. The lockdown-driven reduction in pollution proves that temporary behavioral changes can make a difference in air quality, but significant and long-lasting gains would require drastic actions against climate change, said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. \u201cCOVID-19 proved to be an unplanned air-quality experiment, and it did lead to temporary localized improvements,\u201d Taalas said in a statement. \u201cBut a pandemic is not a substitute for sustained and systematic action to tackle major drivers of both pollution and climate change and so safeguard the health of both people and planet.\u201d Last year\u2019s air quality gains were evident because when \u201cthere are no cars on the street, you see the improvement in air quality immediately,\u201d said Oksana Tarasova, head of WMO\u2019s atmospheric environment research division. \u201cAnd of course, as soon as the cars go back on the street, you get the worsening back,\u201d she said. The brief reductions were no solution to tackle \u201clong-lead greenhouse gases\u201d behind global warming like carbon dioxide, whose levels can take years to change, Tarasova said. Friday\u2019s report was published ahead of International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on Sept.7, a date created by the UN General Assembly to raise awareness and promote solutions to improve air quality around the world. With News Wire Services<\/p>\n