National

Owing To Lockdown, Air Pollution In India At 20-Year Low: NASA

NASA satellite sensors observed aerosol levels at a 20-year low during the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Washington DC: According to satellite data published by US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration known as NASA, air pollution over northern India has plummeted to a 20-year-low for this time of the year.

Pawan Gupta, a Universities Space Research Association (USRA) scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center said: “We knew we would see changes in atmospheric composition in many places during the lockdown but I have never seen aerosol values so low in the Indo-Gangetic Plain at this time of year.”

The nationwide mandate limited activity at factories and rigorously reduced car, bus, truck, and aeroplane traffic. Aerosol levels at a 20-year low for this time of year in northern India, after just a week of reduced human activities, NASA satellite sensors observed.

Every year, aerosols from human-made sources add to unhealthy levels of air pollution in many Indian cities. Aerosols are tiny solid and liquid particles suspended in the air that reduce visibility and can damage the human lungs and heart.

The government of India imposed its 1.3 billion citizens under a strict lockdown on March 25, 2020, to contain the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The strict lockdown is supposed to end on 3rd May and resume all the activities as usual.

Also Read: ‘Run Special Trains For Migrants After 3 May’, Ajit Pawar Urges Centre

On Thursday, the total number of Coronavirus positive cases in India surged to 21,393, according to government data.

41 new COVID-19 deaths and 1,409 infections have been reported in 24 hours, as per the health ministry’s latest update.

The total cases include 16,454 active cases, 4257 cured/discharged/migrated and 681 deaths as per Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Dear Readers,
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.

Related posts