Changes in black carbon emissions over Europe due to COVID-19 lockdowns
Nikolaos Evangeliou, Stephen M. Platt, Sabine Eckhardt, Cathrine Lund Myhre, Paolo Laj, Lucas Alados‐Arboledas, John Backman, Benjamin T. Brem, Markus Fiebig, H. Flentje, Angela Marinoni, Marco Pandolfi, Jesús Yus-Díez, Natalia Prats, Jean Philippe Putaud, Karine Sellegri, M. Sorribas, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Stergios Vratolis, Alfred Wiedensohler, A. Stohl
Abstract
Abstract. Following the emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) responsible for COVID-19 in December 2019 in Wuhan (China) and its spread to the rest of the world, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic in March 2020. Without effective treatment in the initial pandemic phase, social distancing and mandatory quarantines were introduced as the only available preventative measure. Despite the socioeconomic impacts, air quality improved due to lower pollutant emissions. Here we investigate the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on ambient black carbon (BC), which affects climate and damages health, using in-situ observations from 17 European stations in a Bayesian inversion framework. BC emissions declined by 11 % in Europe (20 % in Italy, 32 % in Germany, 20 % in Spain) during lockdown compared to the same period in the previous five years. BC temporal variation in the countries enduring the most drastic restrictions showed the most distinct lockdown impacts. Increased particle light absorption in at the beginning of the lockdown, confirmed by assimilated satellite and remote sensing data, suggests residential combustion was the dominant BC source. Accordingly, in Central and Eastern Europe, which experienced lower than average temperatures, BC was elevated compared to the previous five years. Except for the comparison of BC emissions in the lockdown with the previous five years, an immediate decrease was also seen, as compared with the period before the lockdown, which averaged about 10 % over Europe. Such a decrease was not seen in the previous years, which also confirms an impact on BC emissions from COVID-19.