Comparison of PM(2.5) and CO(2) Concentrations in Large Cities of China during the COVID-19 Lockdown

Estimating the impacts on PM(2.5) pollution and CO(2) emissions by human activities in different urban regions is important for developing efficient policies. In early 2020, China implemented a lockdown policy to contain the spread of COVID-19, resulting in a significant reduction of human activities. This event presents a convenient opportunity to study the impact of human activities in the transportation and industrial sectors on air pollution. Here, we investigate the variations in air quality attributed to the COVID-19 lockdown policy in the megacities of China by combining in-situ environmental and meteorological datasets, the Suomi-NPP/VIIRS and the CO(2) emissions from the Carbon Monitor project. Our study shows that PM(2.5) concentrations in the spring of 2020 decreased by 41.87% in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and 43.30% in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), respectively, owing to the significant shutdown of traffic and manufacturing industries. However, PM(2.5) concentrations in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region only decreased by 2.01% because the energy and steel industries were not fully paused. In addition, unfavorable weather conditions contributed to further increases in the PM(2.5) concentration. Furthermore, CO(2) concentrations were not significantly affected in China during the short-term emission reduction, despite a 19.52% reduction in CO(2) emissions compared to the same period in 2019. Our results suggest that concerted efforts from different emission sectors and effective long-term emission reduction strategies are necessary to control air pollution and CO(2) emissions. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at 10.1007/s00376-021-1281-x.