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AssetID: 41340759

Headline: Image Shows Air Pollution In Europe Returning To Pre-Pandemic Levels

Caption: A satellite image shows air pollution in Europe is returning to pre-pandemic levels in March 2021. The image shows the average concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) in the tropospheric column (i.e. above ground level), computed using Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite data for March of 2019, 2020 and 2021. The comparison of the images indicates that, after a marked decline that came about due to COVID-19 measures put in place in Europe in March 2020, NO₂ air pollution has rebounded to its pre-pandemic levels one year later. For instance, the nitrogen dioxide concentration above Brussels had fallen by approximately 36 percent between March 2019 and March 2020, but by March 2021, the concentration above Belgium’s capital has returned to a level comparable to that of 2019. Each day of the year Copernicus Sentinel missions provide petabytes of open data that include indicators useful for the assessment of air quality around the world.

Keywords: Europe,from above,satellite,aerial view,air pollution,climate change

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