Science Happening Now

How China's Air Pollution has dropped during the Coronavirus Outbreak:

The unexpected side effect - NASA recently stated that it had seen "significant decreases" in noxious nitrogen dioxide over China through February. Nitrogen dioxide is emitted by burning fuel, cars, power plants, and construction machinery, and it can aggravate respiratory symptoms and asthma, among other negative effects. China's cities rank among the most polluted in the world, with Hotan and Kashgar in the top 20 according to an IQAir report. NASA published satellite imagery showing nitrogen dioxide levels in China before and after the country began imposing lockdowns on January 23rd. It also showed drastic declines in pollutants around Wuhan, which has appeared to be the source of the outbreak and was the first city to be quarantined. The data came from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-5 satellite, and similar data came from NASA's Aura satellite.