ECU scientists: Stay at home orders having positive impact on environment
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) -- Stay at home order are keeping more people from driving and flying, while also slowing industrial manufacturing, and scientists say it's having a positive effect on the environment.
An image from NASA reveals a substantial decrease in nitrogen levels across major metropolitan areas in the Northeast United States, as we emit less green house gases during the pandemic.
The same model showing levels between March 2015 and 2019 tells a much different story.
Pollution levels are down by 30% compared to normal and thats pretty low, lower than any time, any month in a year that the satellite has started monitoring pollution levels in the past 15 years," says Dr. Tom Rickenbach, an atmospheric science professor at ECU.
Researchers say that improved pollution levels dont just benefit the environment, but the health of individuals as well.
It also reduces the kind of pollution that makes people actually more vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19 virus," Rickenbach adds.
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