COVID-19 Cannot Sustainably Improve Air Quality: Evidence from Reopening an Economy

Xiaoxuan Yang

doi:doi:10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12

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COVID-19 Cannot Sustainably Improve Air Quality: Evidence from Reopening an Economy

Xiaoxuan Yang

Published in Journal of Health and Environmental Research (Volume 7, Issue 2)

Received: 10 March 2021 Accepted: 26 March 2021 Published: 7 April 2021

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Abstract

One “silver lining” of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the reduction in air pollution that followed lockdowns. Unfortunately, this unintended air pollution decline will likely be short-lived. As regions begin to recover their economies, travel and industrial activity will increase the ambient pollutants quickly offsetting the improvement in air quality. Therefore, it is urgent to clarify the causal impact of reopening an economy on air quality during COVID-19. Based on city-level daily air quality data in China, this paper is the first to empirically analyze the causal effect of reopening the economy in the provincial capital Lanzhou on concentrations of four air pollutants using the synthetic control method. The results show that the reopening caused a significant increase in the concentration of NO₂ by as much as 30 μg/m³ (an increase of 75% from the lockdown level) and a significant increase in O₃ concentrations by 60μg/m³ (a 60% increase) which peaked on the 6th day after the restart. The reopening also led to significant fluctuations in SO₂ and CO concentrations. This study contains useful conclusions by providing timely and reliable causal evidence on the lasting impact of COVID-19 on air quality.

Published in	Journal of Health and Environmental Research (Volume 7, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12
Page(s)	88-98
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

COVID-19, Air Quality, Reopening Economies, Synthetic Control Method

References

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Xiaoxuan Yang. (2021). COVID-19 Cannot Sustainably Improve Air Quality: Evidence from Reopening an Economy. Journal of Health and Environmental Research, 7(2), 88-98. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12

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ACS Style

Xiaoxuan Yang. COVID-19 Cannot Sustainably Improve Air Quality: Evidence from Reopening an Economy. J. Health Environ. Res. 2021, 7(2), 88-98. doi: 10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12

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Xiaoxuan Yang. COVID-19 Cannot Sustainably Improve Air Quality: Evidence from Reopening an Economy. J Health Environ Res. 2021;7(2):88-98. doi: 10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12

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@article{10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12,
  author = {Xiaoxuan Yang},
  title = {COVID-19 Cannot Sustainably Improve Air Quality: Evidence from Reopening an Economy},
  journal = {Journal of Health and Environmental Research},
  volume = {7},
  number = {2},
  pages = {88-98},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jher.20210702.12},
  abstract = {One “silver lining” of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the reduction in air pollution that followed lockdowns. Unfortunately, this unintended air pollution decline will likely be short-lived. As regions begin to recover their economies, travel and industrial activity will increase the ambient pollutants quickly offsetting the improvement in air quality. Therefore, it is urgent to clarify the causal impact of reopening an economy on air quality during COVID-19. Based on city-level daily air quality data in China, this paper is the first to empirically analyze the causal effect of reopening the economy in the provincial capital Lanzhou on concentrations of four air pollutants using the synthetic control method. The results show that the reopening caused a significant increase in the concentration of NO2 by as much as 30 μg/m3 (an increase of 75% from the lockdown level) and a significant increase in O3 concentrations by 60μg/m3 (a 60% increase) which peaked on the 6th day after the restart. The reopening also led to significant fluctuations in SO2 and CO concentrations. This study contains useful conclusions by providing timely and reliable causal evidence on the lasting impact of COVID-19 on air quality.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - COVID-19 Cannot Sustainably Improve Air Quality: Evidence from Reopening an Economy
AU  - Xiaoxuan Yang
Y1  - 2021/04/07
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12
T2  - Journal of Health and Environmental Research
JF  - Journal of Health and Environmental Research
JO  - Journal of Health and Environmental Research
SP  - 88
EP  - 98
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2472-3592
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12
AB  - One “silver lining” of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the reduction in air pollution that followed lockdowns. Unfortunately, this unintended air pollution decline will likely be short-lived. As regions begin to recover their economies, travel and industrial activity will increase the ambient pollutants quickly offsetting the improvement in air quality. Therefore, it is urgent to clarify the causal impact of reopening an economy on air quality during COVID-19. Based on city-level daily air quality data in China, this paper is the first to empirically analyze the causal effect of reopening the economy in the provincial capital Lanzhou on concentrations of four air pollutants using the synthetic control method. The results show that the reopening caused a significant increase in the concentration of NO2 by as much as 30 μg/m3 (an increase of 75% from the lockdown level) and a significant increase in O3 concentrations by 60μg/m3 (a 60% increase) which peaked on the 6th day after the restart. The reopening also led to significant fluctuations in SO2 and CO concentrations. This study contains useful conclusions by providing timely and reliable causal evidence on the lasting impact of COVID-19 on air quality.
VL  - 7
IS  - 2
ER  -

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Author Information

Xiaoxuan Yang

Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States of America

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APA Style

Xiaoxuan Yang. (2021). COVID-19 Cannot Sustainably Improve Air Quality: Evidence from Reopening an Economy. Journal of Health and Environmental Research, 7(2), 88-98. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12

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ACS Style

Xiaoxuan Yang. COVID-19 Cannot Sustainably Improve Air Quality: Evidence from Reopening an Economy. J. Health Environ. Res. 2021, 7(2), 88-98. doi: 10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12

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AMA Style

Xiaoxuan Yang. COVID-19 Cannot Sustainably Improve Air Quality: Evidence from Reopening an Economy. J Health Environ Res. 2021;7(2):88-98. doi: 10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12,
  author = {Xiaoxuan Yang},
  title = {COVID-19 Cannot Sustainably Improve Air Quality: Evidence from Reopening an Economy},
  journal = {Journal of Health and Environmental Research},
  volume = {7},
  number = {2},
  pages = {88-98},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jher.20210702.12},
  abstract = {One “silver lining” of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the reduction in air pollution that followed lockdowns. Unfortunately, this unintended air pollution decline will likely be short-lived. As regions begin to recover their economies, travel and industrial activity will increase the ambient pollutants quickly offsetting the improvement in air quality. Therefore, it is urgent to clarify the causal impact of reopening an economy on air quality during COVID-19. Based on city-level daily air quality data in China, this paper is the first to empirically analyze the causal effect of reopening the economy in the provincial capital Lanzhou on concentrations of four air pollutants using the synthetic control method. The results show that the reopening caused a significant increase in the concentration of NO2 by as much as 30 μg/m3 (an increase of 75% from the lockdown level) and a significant increase in O3 concentrations by 60μg/m3 (a 60% increase) which peaked on the 6th day after the restart. The reopening also led to significant fluctuations in SO2 and CO concentrations. This study contains useful conclusions by providing timely and reliable causal evidence on the lasting impact of COVID-19 on air quality.},
 year = {2021}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - COVID-19 Cannot Sustainably Improve Air Quality: Evidence from Reopening an Economy
AU  - Xiaoxuan Yang
Y1  - 2021/04/07
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12
T2  - Journal of Health and Environmental Research
JF  - Journal of Health and Environmental Research
JO  - Journal of Health and Environmental Research
SP  - 88
EP  - 98
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2472-3592
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20210702.12
AB  - One “silver lining” of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the reduction in air pollution that followed lockdowns. Unfortunately, this unintended air pollution decline will likely be short-lived. As regions begin to recover their economies, travel and industrial activity will increase the ambient pollutants quickly offsetting the improvement in air quality. Therefore, it is urgent to clarify the causal impact of reopening an economy on air quality during COVID-19. Based on city-level daily air quality data in China, this paper is the first to empirically analyze the causal effect of reopening the economy in the provincial capital Lanzhou on concentrations of four air pollutants using the synthetic control method. The results show that the reopening caused a significant increase in the concentration of NO2 by as much as 30 μg/m3 (an increase of 75% from the lockdown level) and a significant increase in O3 concentrations by 60μg/m3 (a 60% increase) which peaked on the 6th day after the restart. The reopening also led to significant fluctuations in SO2 and CO concentrations. This study contains useful conclusions by providing timely and reliable causal evidence on the lasting impact of COVID-19 on air quality.
VL  - 7
IS  - 2
ER  -

Copy | Download