Global Changes in Secondary Atmospheric Pollutants During the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: We use the global Community Earth System Model to investigate the response of secondary pollutants (ozone O₃, secondary organic aerosols SOA) in different parts of the world in response to modified emissions of primary pollutants during the COVID-19 pandemic. We quantify the respective effects of the reductions in NOx and in volatile organic carbon (VOC) emissions, which, in most cases, affect oxidants in opposite ways. Using model simulations, we show that the level of NOx has been reduced by typically 40% in China during February 2020 and by similar amounts in many areas of Europe and North America in mid-March to mid-April 2020, in good agreement with space and surface observations. We show that, relative to a situation in which the emission reductions are ignored and despite

SUBMITTER: Gaubert B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8250227 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature