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Car pollution has dropped significantly in the UK
In the UK, air pollution levels have decreased significantly over the two weeks following the country’s lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
According to an analysis, some cities have seen nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels drop by 60% compared to the same period last year.
NO2, emitted by car exhausts, is a serious air pollutant and indirectly contributes to global warming.
Activists have said they hope this will lead to a permanent change.
Jenny Bates, an air quality activist with Friends of the Earth, said: “With this drop in air pollution, less traffic can quickly lead to cleaner air.
“Once this terrible situation is over, we don’t want to rush back to where we were or worse, and we cannot have a rapid return to business as usual.
“We can have a better and cleaner future for ourselves and for the planet.”
On March 16, Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged people to work from home and avoid unnecessary travel, closed schools, and ordered people to stay at home except for very limited reasons.
A week later, Johnson announced a nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of the virus.
Daily readings from air quality monitoring stations since March 17 have been compared to the same period last year, taking into account the days of the week.
An analysis by the BBC Shared Data Unit revealed an even more dramatic drop in air pollution since the lockdown announcement on March 23 compared to the same period last year — halved at some of the most polluted sites, including readings in London, Glasgow, Bristol, and Oxford.
Hafodrynys Street in Wales is known to have some of the highest nitrogen dioxide levels outside central London.
William Bloss, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Birmingham, said: “What we are seeing in the lockdown… is the reduction of road traffic in our cities leading to much lower NO2 levels.
“We see that the reductions are greatest in areas most heavily influenced by road traffic, so urban centers, roads in London, Birmingham, and other urban centers.”
Daniel WainWrightGraphics
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