NASA Track's COVID-19's Atmospheric Fingerprint

Narration: Katie Jepson

Transcript:

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Recently, two separate NASA studies

illustrated the complex relationship

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between human activity and our atmosphere.

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First up, a team led by scientists

at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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focused on drops in nitrogen oxide

emissions during the COVID 19 lockdowns.

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Nitrogen oxide comes from sources

like power plants and car exhaust

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and reacts to form surface level ozone,

which is harmful to human health.

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Using NASA satellites,

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the team saw that the lockdowns left

a distinct 'fingerprint' on ozone levels

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in the lower atmosphere,

which dropped about 2% globally.

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And while this may seem small,

such a drop in harmful

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ozone would take about 15 years

to achieve under even

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the most aggressive

emission control scenarios.

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Interestingly enough, the team found that

these drops were not uniform

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across the globe.

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That where and when the lockdowns

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occurred was very important in determining

the impact on the atmosphere.

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Taking a look at these regions

with blue representing below

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normal levels of ozone

in the lower atmosphere,

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we could see that both Asia

and the United States have

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a substantial impact

on harmful global ozone levels.

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Factors like prevailing

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winds, air temperature

and moisture content all impact

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how efficiently ozone is produced

and moves

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throughout the globe.

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Like ozone, CO2 is a long lived gas

that is easily

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transported through the atmosphere,

which means that any changes in emissions

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is mixed with many different influences

from both near and far.

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This makes it challenging to track

and measure how local changes in

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human activity actually impact the levels

of this greenhouse gas.

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Using NASA's OCO -2 instrument

and the GEOS model, NASA

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researchers were able to spot short-term

regional fluctuations in the atmosphere

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due to drops in human activity

related to the lockdowns.

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This is the first time changes in CO2

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measurements have been tracked

at such a scale all over the globe.

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The team's results

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showed that the CO2 emissions dropped

significantly in the Northern Hemisphere

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from February through

May and rebounded during the summer

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when some restrictions eased.

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The team

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was also able to better distinguish

which monthly CO2 fluctuations

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were due to human activities

and which were due to natural causes,

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like the Australian wildfires

and ocean circulation patterns.

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This is important because distinguishing

between human and natural causes

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is a critical step towards measuring

human activities' collective effects

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on CO2 emissions in near real time.

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The lockdown surrounding COVID 19

were an unprecedented global event

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that highlighted the complex relationships

between emissions and the atmosphere.

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By studying

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these relationships, we can gain insights

that could help us better design

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sustainable measures that can improve

both human health and the climate.