India's initial COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 improved country's air quality, says new study

A study published in the journal Environmental Research has found that India's nationwide lockdown at the start of the pandemic greatly contributed to improving air quality and has even led to a drop in land surface temperatures.

The benefits of the lockdown - other than culling the spread of coronavirus - were the travel and work restrictions, which led to major reduction in the use of transport, subsequently cutting down on pollution.

The study was concentrated on urban areas in India, tracking data from March-May 2020 and comparing it to pre-pandemic numbers. The areas in focus were Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.


To ascertain the impact of the lockdown, researchers looked at nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels - among a host of others - and surface temperatures. NO2 is a greenhouse gas - which are responsible for trapping heat and causing global warming.

In a country where thousands of people die due to poor air quality - especially in the national capital - the results were promising, with Delhi seeing a 40% reduction in NO2 levels.

On average, the country saw a 12% drop in NO2 levels, while the subjects of the research - the six major cities - saw a 31% reduction.

Meanwhile, surface temperatures dipped by one degree Celsius - as compared to the five year average - during the day and two degree Celsius in the nights.