Policy-Related Gains in Urban Air Quality May Be Offset by Increased Emissions in a Warming Climate.

ABSTRACT: Air quality policies have made substantial gains by reducing pollutant emissions from the transportation sector. In March 2020, New York City's activities were severely curtailed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in 60-90% reductions in human activity. We continuously measured major volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during January-April 2020 and 2021 in Manhattan. Concentrations of many VOCs decreased significantly during the shutdown with variations in daily patterns reflective of human activity perturbations, resulting in a temporary ∼28% reduction in chemical reactivity. However, the limited effect of these dramatic measures was outweighed by larger increases in VOC-related reactivity during the anomalously warm spring 2021. This emphasizes the diminishing returns from tra

SUBMITTER: Cao C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10324301 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature