NASA detects decreasing levels of nitrogen dioxide over China the last month.
Sadly or not this is the good news about the corona virus disease. The content of the devastating NO2 gas has decreased dramatically since the Corona outbreak due to less polluting activities from closed factories, less traveling with cars and by planes and less need of electricity from coal powered plants. The focus of this gas often mentioned as NOX gases is almost absent in media.
“This is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area for a specific event,” said Fei Liu, an air quality researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Liu recalls seeing a drop in NO2 over several countries during the economic recession that began in 2008, but the decrease was gradual. Scientists also observed a significant reduction around Beijing during the 2008 Olympics, but the effect was mostly localized around that city, and pollution levels rose again once the Olympics ended.
The NO2 and NOX gases present in the air(also natural after lightning) reacts with other components in the air and in the precence of sunlight and forms smog very devastating to the human health. This also increases the levels of ozone and nitric acids in the air. The effect of smog to your lungs is well known. It also enables an easier access for virus or bacterias, since it penetrate into lung tissue and damage this protection system. These nitric acid also make your eyes sore when the outside temperature drops against 0 C and lower, and also make your eyes more exposed to virus, also the corona virus.
The circle of circumstances regarding the corona virus might not be endless but they all have impact on the present situation.
