INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - As the novel coronavirus spreads across central Indiana, Hoosiers are holed up in their homes to wait out the pandemic. And, much like other cities across the world, this has created a particular environmental benefit: Air quality has improved.
Simply put, fewer cars on the road means fewer pollutants fouling the air.
And Indiana’s stay-at-home order means there are a lot fewer cars on the road. The state’s main air monitor for Indianapolis showed a 38% drop in emissions of nitrogen dioxide, a substance commonly used to measure traffic pollution, compared to the same last year.
“I can now say unequivocally that the stay-at-home order has resulted in better air quality, immediately,” said Gabriel Filippelli, director of the Center for Urban Health at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
The improvement could be particularly beneficial in central Indiana, which has historically had high levels of air pollution, concerning public health experts.
Filippelli, who monitors the air quality sensors around Indianapolis as part of his work, said he believes the drop in nitrogen dioxide is predominantly caused by the reduction in vehicle traffic.
Nitrogen dioxide, emitted from the burning of fuel, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says, is known to aggravate the respiratory system.
The Indiana Department for Environmental Management said that it has not seen a notable reduction in emissions over the last two weeks. The agency said that weather patterns have likely made it difficult for the sensors to pick up air quality improvements.
Still, IDEM officials said they are taking a closer look to see if emissions have reduced.
Regardless of any improvement in air quality, no one, of course wishes for a pandemic. That said, Janet McCabe, a former official focusing on air quality at both IDEM and the EPA, believes the circumstances might create an opportunity.
“Maybe,” McCabe said, “there are some lessons that can be learned coming out of this on how to do things to carry into the future and extend the benefits.”
As the coronavirus pandemic has shut down operations worldwide, air pollution levels over major cities including Beijing, Los Angeles and New York have plummeted. The fall is closely tied to drops in traffic volume, as people adhere to shelter-in-place orders to prevent the virus’ spread.
The almost immediate impact on air quality, McCabe said, strengthens the connection between pollution and driving.
“That’s huge, and it’s a very quick signal,” McCabe said. “If people need affirmation that it actually does improve air quality to have less traffic, that’s pretty good evidence right there.”
Indianapolis seems to be following suit. The IDEM monitor located at Washington Park, near 30th Street and Keystone Avenue, shows a 38% drop in the daily average nitrogen dioxide levels. Filippelli looked at these numbers over a two-week period - the last week of March and first week of April - for both this year and 2019.
There has been an even steeper reduction in traffic volumes during the month of March, according to data from the Indiana Department of Transportation. Compared to the baseline of the first week of March, the central Indiana region has seen a roughly 40% drop in cars on the road during weekdays and a little more than a 50% decline during the weekends.
People who live in highly-polluted areas near truck stops, highways or busy intersections will feel the effects of improved air quality more substantially, Filippelli said, but he also says the impacts will ripple across the city.
Those with preexisting respiratory conditions such as asthma, which the EPA says can be exacerbated by exposure to nitrogen dioxide for extended periods of time, will likely feel the benefits the most.
The longer-term impacts on air quality are hard to nail down, in great part, because the drop in nitrogen dioxide would likely be reversed once stay-at-home orders are pulled back and people return to the roads.
“It can actually impact people’s health in the short term, because if you’re prone to asthma, for example, bad air can trigger asthma attacks,” Filippelli said. “In the long term, it’s not so clear.”
Such reductions resulting from the pandemic can also help those who may suffer from it.
Coronavirus is a respiratory disease that preys on older adults and people with asthma. Some of the main symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath and tightness in the chest. Many of the more severe illnesses developed from COVID-19 often feature pneumonia.
So any improvements in air quality can have a significant impact for those with cardiovascular problems or other issues that could be an added complication for the coronavirus, said Jeff Dukes, director of the Purdue Climate Research Center.
“Obviously, the disease is a huge threat to people’s lungs,” Dukes said, “and any improvement on air quality is going to make it easier for people.”
High levels of air pollution have actually been correlated with higher death rates from COVID-19, a new study out of Harvard University recently found.
According to the research, people who live in cities such as Chicago with higher long-term average particulate matter pollution - particles in the air resulting from chemical reactions with pollutants including nitrogen dioxide - are more likely to die from coronavirus than nearby areas with cleaner air. Even if just a county away.
That has been the case with previous similar illnesses, such as the Spanish Flu more than 100 years ago. Research out of Carnegie Mellon University in 2018 found that air pollution was a major reason for differences in mortality rates from the Spanish Flu across various areas.
The American Lung Association ranks the Indianapolis, Carmel and Muncie metropolitan area as the 19th worst for year-round particulate pollution. And Indianapolis’ pollution has, in recent years, concerned area public health experts.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a widespread economic recession, thousands of deaths and is yet to be even close to conclusion.
That said, the crisis also has opened a window into how quickly air quality could be improved in cities where thousands die from complications caused by pollution each year.
“We are now getting a much better sense of how quick air quality can be improved if we change our practices and our habits,” Filippelli said. “We’re doing this right now because of a horrific and tragic pandemic, but it’s a good lesson … I see it as a way to remind us that most of our environmental qualities are in our hands.”
While the effects of this brief drop in air pollution aren’t likely to have a large or lingering impact, the pandemic could act as a guideline in how to address future widespread threats to society - even threats like climate change.
“The question to me is whether we can see the urgency for solving these longer-term, slower-acting problems as clearly as we see the urgency for solving short-term problems,” Dukes said.
One of the main challenges in recovering from the pandemic, McCabe predicts, may be the impetus to go right back to the way things were before.
McCabe said government agencies could be paying attention and consider implementing different policies and reduction goals, even if the reduction is small to start. Dukes likewise suggested businesses lean into teleworking as a way to reduce travel and subsidize office energy use.
“Everyone is interested in everyone going back to work,” McCabe said. “But if society and agencies view this as, ‘Thank goodness that’s behind us, let’s go back to the way it was before,’ then we are missing big opportunities to improve things.”
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Source: The Indianapolis Star
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