Containment measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic have plummeted the use of combustion vehicles and, as a direct consequence, are dropping pollution levels dramatically. Where this reduction is most noticeable is in the case of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a harmful compound for humans closely linked to motorized traffic. This reduction can be seen from satellites, which are capturing how the pollution is dissipating. And also from the ground, from the measuring stations installed in the cities. An analysis of EL PAÍS of the data collected by the European Environment Agency (EEA) of those stations in the EU points to an average reduction of nitrogen dioxide levels in the 80 most populated localities of Spain of 51% in the first three weeks of confinement compared to the same three weeks of 2019.
In practically all the measuring stations in these 80 cities, there has been an average reduction in nitrogen dioxide levels since the confinement began on March 16 and until April 5. The only exception is Zamora, where the only measurement station has registered an increase; in any case, the NO2 concentrations in this city are very low and have been on average during those three weeks of confinement 77% below the values recommended by the World Health Organization. This international organization sets 40 micrograms per cubic meter of NO2 concentration and the 80 Spanish cities analyzed have been very far from that border.
Of those 80, the locality in which the pollution data has plummeted the most is Arrecife, in the province of Las Palmas, where the reduction exceeds 90%. And within the group of the 15 most populous cities in the country, Palma de Mallorca leads the reductions: it has registered an average decrease of 74% in the level of NO2 in those first three weeks of confinement. They are followed by Alicante, Valencia and Vigo, all three with drops of around 65%. In Madrid, the fall in the same period was 55.9% and in Barcelona 60%.
“There are no precedents,” says Miguel Ángel Ceballos, an air pollution specialist at Ecologistas en Acción, who has been monitoring air quality in Spain for years. “It is exceptional and unprecedented since the first records began. in the nineties ”, he adds.
The EEA is collecting and disseminating data on a weekly basis from around 3,000 measuring stations held by EU member countries. The agency notes that weather conditions “can contribute significantly to the weekly reductions seen in pollutant concentrations.” However, it directly links the reduction in nitrogen dioxide concentrations to the traffic restrictions imposed in European countries by the pandemic. In the case of other pollutants, such as PM2.5 and PM10 particles, the agency explains that other factors come into play (such as power generation or industry), so the reductions are not as homogeneous as in the concentration of the nitrogen dioxide in cities.
A similar situation to that of Spain has occurred in the rest of the European Union with confinement measures. According to the EEA data, in all the capitals of the European Union pollution has fallen in those three weeks compared to the same period in 2019. Ljubljana (Slovenia) is the European capital in which the levels of nitrogen dioxide they have decreased more, 54.4% in the three weeks analyzed by EL PAÍS. Nicosia (51.6%), Paris (51.5%), Luxembourg (51%), Madrid (49.5%), Rome (47.6%) and Lisbon (47.4%) occupy the first positions in those declines in NO2 compared to the same period in 2019.
“We must learn from the obvious: there is a direct relationship between motorized mobility and air quality,” concludes Ceballos. This member of Ecologists in Action stresses that this exceptional situation clears any doubt about that direct relationship between combustion vehicles and pollution. “The way to improve air quality is by reducing motorized mobility,” he adds. But Ceballos also warns of what can happen when trying to return to normal: there is a risk that public transport will be “stigmatized” out of fear to the contagion of the coronavirus. And it must be used, alert, because this type of mobility is vital to fight against contamination.
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