The agency’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service reported Tuesday that with the “abrupt changes in activity levels” in northern Italy, it has tracked a “reduction trend” of nitrogen dioxide, or NO2, for the last four to five weeks. Similar drops in pollutants were detected in China after the government there implemented widespread shutdowns to try and slow the spread of COVID-19. Most emissions are generated by human activities such as traffic, energy production, residential heating and industry. “It is quite remarkable that a signal of decreasing activity levels could be detected,” said Vincent-Henri Peuch, the director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. “This shows the extent of the measures taken by Italy.”——The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education.

Source: ABC News March 17, 2020 11:37 UTC