Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
Volume 20, Issue 1, Pages 71-80Publisher
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s10311-021-01327-3
Keywords
COVID-19; Black carbon; Lockdown; Spatial correlation; Yangtze River Delta
Funding
- National Key RD Plan programs [2018YFC0213105]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [91644105]
- Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai [18230722600, 19ZR1421100, 20ZR1422000]
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Research shows that during the COVID-19 lockdown, there was a significant reduction in PM2.5 and black carbon concentrations in the Yangtze River Delta in Eastern China, with the decrease in traffic activities having the most impact on black carbon levels. Controlling emissions from traffic and industrial activities is an efficient way to lower black carbon levels in urban areas like the Yangtze River Delta.
Airborne black carbon is a strong warming component of the atmosphere. Therefore, curbing black carbon emissions should slow down global warming. The 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) is a unique opportunity for studying the response of black carbon to the varied human activities, in particular due to lockdown policies. Actually, there is few knowledge on the variations of black carbon in China during lockdowns. Here, we studied the concentrations of particulate matter (PM2.5) and black carbon before, during, and after the lockdown in nine sites of the Yangtze River Delta in Eastern China. Results show 40-60% reduction of PM2.5 and 40-50% reduction of black carbon during the lockdown. The classical bimodal peaks of black carbon in the morning and evening rush hours were highly weakened, indicating the substantial decrease of traffic activities. Contributions from fossil fuels combustion to black carbon decreased about 5-10% during the lockdown. Spatial correlation analysis indicated the clustering of the multi-site black carbon concentrations in the Yangtze River Delta during the lockdown. Overall, control of emissions from traffic and industrial activities should be efficient to curb black carbon levels in the frame of a 'green public transit system' for mega-city clusters such as the Yangtze River Delta.
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