Articles | Volume 20, issue 24
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15743-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15743-2020
Research article
 | 
18 Dec 2020
Research article |  | 18 Dec 2020

UK surface NO2 levels dropped by 42 % during the COVID-19 lockdown: impact on surface O3

James D. Lee, Will S. Drysdale, Doug P. Finch, Shona E. Wilde, and Paul I. Palmer

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Cited articles

An, Z., Jin, Y., Li, J., Li, W., and Wu, W.: Impact of Particulate Air Pollution on Cardiovascular Health, Current Allergy and Asthma Reports, 18, 15, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-018-0768-8, 2018. 
Bao, R., and Zhang, A.: Does lockdown reduce air pollution? Evidence from 44 cities in northern China, Sci. Total Environ., 731, 139052, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139052, 2020. 
Bekbulat, B., Apte, J., Millet, D., Robinson, A., Wells, K., and Marshall, J.: PM2.5 and Ozone Air Pollution Levels Have Not Dropped Consistently Across the US Following Societal Covid Response, 2020. 
Cooper, O. R., Gao, R.-S., Tarasick, D., Leblanc, T., and Sweeney, C.: Long-term ozone trends at rural ozone monitoring sites across the United States, 1990–2010. J. Geophys. Res., 117, D22307, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JD018261, 2012. 
Cooper, O. R., Parrish, D. D, Ziemke, J., Balashov, N. V., Cupeiro, M., Galbally, I. E., Gilge, Horowitz, S., Jensen, L. H., Lamarque, J.-F., Naik, V., Oltmans, S., Schwab, J., Shindell, D. T., Thompson, A. M., Thouret, V., Wang, Y., and Zbinden, R. M.: Global distribution and trends of tropospheric ozone: An observation-based review, Elem. Sci. Anth., 2, 29, https://doi.org/10.12952/journal.elementa.000029, 2014. 
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Short summary
Efforts to prevent the COVID-19 virus spreading across the globe have included travel restrictions and the closure of workplaces, leading to a significant drop in emissions of primary air pollutants. This provides for a unique opportunity to examine how air pollutant concentrations respond to an abrupt and prolonged reduction. We examine how NO2 and O3 have been affected at several urban measurement sites in the UK. We look at the change in NO2 compared to previous years and the effect on O3.
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