Before-and-after: Air pollution drops in cities around the world following coronavirus lockdown

<p>Lockdowns imposed to halt the spread of the coronavirus have been recently linked with cleaner air quality around the world.</p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic has caused less cars on the road, industrial activity to shut down and cancelled flights, slashing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution around the world.</p><p>Some of the stats are staggering.</p><p>With minimal cars on the road, Los Angeles is experiencing better air quality than the city has had in almost 40 years, according to Environmental Protection Agency data for March. In downtown LA, the notorious smog has lifted and it's now possible to see snow on the San Gabriel Mountains only about 8 miles away.</p><p>According to data published by NASA satellite readings, carbon monoxide emissions are down by 50 percent in New York. Air pollution in India has dropped to a 20-year low.</p><p>Measurements from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5P satellite show how some cities experiencing a 45 per cent drop in nitrogen dioxide levels since the outbreak. During late January and early February 2020, levels of nitrogen dioxide over cities and industrial areas in Asia and Europe were lower than in the same period in 2019, by as much as 40 percent.</p><p> Image</p><p> Nitrogen dioxide concentrations over France</p><p> ESA</p><p> Air pollution causes lung and respiratory disease, cancer, heart disease and diabetes, killing about seven million people around the world every year, according to the World Health Organization. People who contract COVID-19 have much higher death rates, between 700 percent and 1,400 percent higher fatality rates, if they have these preconditions.</p>