Between street dust and pollen, spring in Finland can often mean a rapid deterioration in air quality.
The country is at the peak of seasonal street dust, but current coronavirus restrictions may provide some relief from this annual problem, according to Pia Anttila, researcher at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI).
"After one year of pandemic, our experience is that when traffic volumes have fallen, so do emissions and air quality has improved. If the situation in Covid-19 turns for the worse, air quality can be expected to improve again," Anttila says.
Air pollution dropped dramatically in the spring of 2020
Traffic has a significant impact on urban air quality. Cars spread street dust from the road surface and release nitrogen dioxide into the air. A year ago, a coronavirus pandemic caused urgent restrictions, and many people began working from home to reduce social contact.
This rapid change in behavioral patterns was observed in pollution statistics, and car-related nitrogen dioxide emissions fell sharply.
The amount of nitrogen dioxide in the air shows how much people are driving. Therefore, emissions can also be considered as an indication of the effectiveness of the restrictions. Authorities recently used nitrogen dioxide values to measure human mobility in the same way that cell phone location data has been used in the past.
The biggest change compared to last year was in the Helsinki metropolitan area, where the Uusimaa border closure surrounded the area from the rest of the country for three weeks. Air pollution may fall again this spring if new coronavirus measures restrict movement after the Easter days.
According to Anttila, nitric oxide levels started to rise again in the summer, but have now stabilized at about 20 percent lower than normal.
Long-term environmental benefits?
Could a pandemic have long-term benefits for air quality? Possibly, if working from home becomes a new normal, Anttila says. However, nitric oxide levels will return to normal as soon as we resume regular traffic patterns.
In China, air pollution rose above pre-coronavirus levels in the summer as industry recovered. According to researchers, the same can happen in Europe.
In Finland, the amount of nitrogen dioxide in urban air has decreased over the years, partly due to fuel-efficient cars.
At the same time, awareness of the health effects of air pollution has increased.
Do face masks stay broken after a pandemic?
The widespread use of masks, such as the FFP2 mask, which protects against street dust such as particles, may also bring relief to those suffering from pollen allergies, Anttila adds.
During a pandemic, the use of masks has become more common and can continue to be beneficial to at-risk groups by bringing much-needed relief during the street dust season.
Anttila says that although air quality deteriorates regularly in the spring, Finland is still Europe’s largest challenger of clean air.
The Finnish Meteorological Institute monitors air pollution in real time website, to inform the public about air pollution exceeding the thresholds.
Source: The Nordic Page