A team from Stockholm University analysed air quality data captured during the Covid pandemic shutdowns in South Asia. They found that the concentration of short-lived cooling particles in the air was greatly reduced, while the concentration of long-lived greenhouse gases was barely affected.
Emissions of sulphur, nitrogen oxides and other air pollutants lead to the formation of particles in the air that can offset the full climate warming caused by greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.
But there has been a lack of knowledge about this ‘masking effect’. In order to determine the size, large-scale experiments involving huge regions would be required, which is infeasible, except during the Covid pandemic when those conditions were replicated.
The activity of many industries and transportation worldwide decreased due to pandemic restrictions in spring 2020.
At Hanimaadhoo, a measuring station in the northernmost Maldives off the coast of India...