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| Wed, 3rd Jun 2020 16:12:00 |
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Coronavirus: Reductions in air pollution during lockdown could lead to warmer weather, experts say |
Reductions in air pollution caused by the UK's coronavirus lockdown could lead to warmer weather across the country, experts have said.
The UK has seen significant decreases in air pollution in recent weeks due to transport use plummeting as the public has followed government guidance to stay at home to slow the spread of Covid-19.
According to analysis by experts at the University of York, air pollution levels have dropped by more than 40 per cent in a number of UK cities during the lockdown.
Professor Francis Pope, an expert of atmospheric science at the University of Birmingham, told The Independent that reductions in the level of some pollutants could lead to warmer temperatures in the short term.
Pollutants such as carbon dioxide which have a warming effect tend to reside in the atmosphere for a long time so the UK would need to see a long-term reduction in such pollutants for there to be an effect on the country's weather.
Meanwhile, other "shorter-lived pollutants", which can make the atmosphere cooler, stay in the atmosphere for a much shorter period and could have a much quicker effect.
"Shorter-lived pollutants, such as particulate matter (for example sulphate particles), can have a cooling effect on our atmosphere," Professor Pope said.
"Since these pollutants only stay airborne for days to weeks, their removal will cause a much more rapid response to the amount of sunlight that gets to the surface of Earth and hence can lead to localised warming."
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