Stunning NASA images have revealed how the coronavirus outbreak in China resulted in reduced pollution due to more people staying indoors and major cities being put on lockdown.
In addition to heavily reduced traffic in China, many businesses have temporarily closed down and advised their employees to stay at home.
For a better perspective, NASA shared two images depicting nitrogen dioxide levels [in yellow/brown color] in the air across the country.
The first image represents the NO2 pollution during the period of January 1 to 20, whereas the second image depicts the NO2 levels during the period of February 10 to 25.
As visible on the second image, the nitrogen dioxide air pollution was greatly reduced in just one month after the quarantine was initiated.
On another map, NASA compared the gas levels in the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, and concluded that the nitrogen dioxide levels during January and February 2020 were much lower than they were in the same months back in 2019.
“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 who works at Goddard Space Flight Center.
The revelation comes shortly after the Japanese prime minister ordered the closure of all schools across the nation to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
“The government considers the health and safety of children above anything else,” Shinzo Abe said.
“We request all primary, junior high and high schools… across the nation to close temporarily from March 2 next week until their spring break.”
Over 200 Japanese have contracted the killer virus and four have passed away. In Hokkaido, 13 new cases were confirmed, including two young children, according to the public broadcaster NHK.
Osaka officials have already ordered the temporary closure of all schools in the city and around 1,600 schools were also set to close in Hokkaido after an 80-year-old man with lung and heart diseases passed away from coronavirus.
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Replaced!