Prepare a report on " the impact of lockdown on our Environment."
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Answer:
Impact of Coronavirus lockdown on air quality
Nationwide lockdown brings shutdown of all kinds of factories/industries, construction works and major transportation (public and personal vehicles) except necessary sectors across the country. Most of these sectors use fossil fuel based energy sources, which are the major source of anthropogenic pollutants and greenhouse gases, responsible for climate change. The forced restrictions on vehicular and industrial emissions are expected to results in better air quality. Within a week of the lockdown, the social media got flooded with various news/pictures/videos, showing twinkling stars in clear night sky, increased visibility during day and better air quality etc., as a result of lockdown. In fact, my scientific analysis using satellite observations also indicates a significant decrease in atmospheric particulate matter and gaseous pollution over India during lockdown period (see Figure). Satellite retrieved aerosol optical depth (AOD) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are used as proxies for air-borne particulate matter and anthropogenic gaseous pollutant, respectively. My study shows a significant decrease (about 20 – 60%) in AOD during lockdown as compared to past four years mean for the same period. As expected, the drop in concentration of particulate matter increases as a function of days in lockdown period. The gaseous pollutant (NO2) also shows a significant drop (about 20 – 40%) during entire month of March and early April, 2020.