Test 2

Now that we've been in this living secluded/self-isolation/working remotely for a few weeks, the daily chatter around my house has started to change. While the conversation still includes concerns for health and safety, we have also started to realize some of the benefits (hopefully?) of this whole social distancing thing.

Case in point, Mother Earth seems to be doing some healing as a result of us all staying the f**k at home:

“Nitrogen dioxide is produced by fossil fuel burning and therefore often used as an urban pollution tracer,” Barbara Dix, an atmospheric researcher at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, told Earther in an email. “Burning fossil fuels directly emits a lot of nitric oxide and a little nitrogen dioxide (often referred to as NOx together), but the nitric oxide is rapidly converted into nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere. Nitrogen dioxide can easily be measured by satellite.”

Given that fossil fuels power everything from cars to electricity, nitrogen dioxide satellite imagery really does show the impact covid-19 is having on society like no other dataset. There are clear signs of the virus’ impact all around the world, and we’ll dive into some U.S. examples below. But it’s also important to note a few small caveats as you scroll around the map and look at the before and after images.

The data presented here is a series of single-day snapshots. Weather patterns can blow pollution around and disperse it while rain and even the level of sunshine can further change readings taken by Sentinel-5P. There are also natural sources of nitrogen dioxide that can affect readings. The data in Google Earth Engine isn’t necessarily quality filtered. Dix noted that means clouds can mess with readings, which may be why on the interactive map there are some rougher-looking areas like northern New England in March or signs of pollution in the Seattle area where there may not be much. It will take researchers time to really dive into the data and filter it to get a fine-scale understanding of covid-19's impact on air pollution. Despite these caveats, the trends in many major cities around the U.S. are staggering and clearly at least in part tied to the changes forced by the covid-19 pandemic.

“The rapid decrease we see in nitrogen dioxide due to covid-19 is unprecedented,” Dix said. “We are now witnessing a global experiment where one emission source is rapidly turned down (NOx), while other sources are still up or will decrease more slowly. A lot of atmospheric science will come out of this.”

...and for those of us in the northeastern United States:

The populous area stretching from Boston to Washington, DC, is the epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak and also a hub of economic and political activity. It’s also an area where states and cities have moved quickly to shut down non-essential services to slow the virus’ spread.

Though New Yorkers aren’t as car-dependent as their Los Angeles counterparts, there are still plenty of vehicles normally on NYC roads and dense clusters of buildings emitting pollution. Ditto for Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, which normally form a daisy chain of pollution along Interstate 95. With covid-19 lockdowns, the chain has been broken.

Just check out the satellite comparison:

grabbed from Earther, click to embiggen

Positively shocking, awesome, and inspirational - all at the same time! And that satellite imagery only represents a span of about 60 days.

Check out the rest at Earther, where you can do the same comparison for anywhere on the planet. China is especially interesting...

Note:

Please don't misunderstand; I am not trying to make light of the situation here. I completely recognize that there are people - lots of people - that are sick. Some of whom are dying due to illness. Many people are out-of-work due to coronavirus. My heart certainly aches for anyone whose health and/or well-being has been impacted by this pandemic.

Rather, like many people, I am making an effort to find positive things that will come to be as a result of this highly negative situation. The healing of the earth is one H U G E positive in this.