NASA says air pollution down in the U.S. amid coronavirus pandemic

May 08, 2020

By: Justin McKee, Meteorologist

We’re in the third month of our new normal amid the COVID-19 outbreak: staying at home and traveling less. While it’s been a tough transition for many of us, there has been at least one positive benefit.

NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio released a report last week that details the reduction in air pollution in the United States over the past few weeks.

The researchers specifically investigated the reduction of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), an air pollutant primarily emitted from fossil fuels burned when you’re driving a car or in factories producing electricity.

The Northeast U.S. and its major metropolitan areas like New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. have been a hotbed for NO2 in recent years. This graphic shows the average NO2 each March from 2015 to 2019.