Η επίδραση της πανδημίας Covid 19 στην ποιότητα της ατμόσφαιρας των πόλεων - Η περίπτωση της Αθήνας

Καραΐσκος, Σωτήριος

The effect of the Covid 19 pandemic on the quality of the atmosphere of cities - The case of Athens

Master Thesis

Author

Καραΐσκος, Σωτήριος

Date

2024

Abstract

Since December 2019, a new coronavirus emerged in China, which rapidly spread worldwide and was characterized as a pandemic. Consequently, governments in most countries were compelled to implement measures to restrict movement. The most common measures included the closure of schools and universities, prohibition of gatherings and events, and the shutdown of hospitality establishments. Moreover, the most strictly measures also involved the suspension of all businesses and industries. Due to the reduction in polluting human activities during the lockdown periods worldwide, an improvement in air quality was observed. This paper examines the improvement of atmospheric quality during the pandemic across the globe. The first case study highlights the impact of the lockdown in the city of Wuhan, China. There, air quality improved by 26% during the restrictive measures compared to the same period in the previous three years. The second case concerns the effects of the lockdown in Milan, where were observed decrease in the atmospheric pollution, with the most substantial reduction being 58% in NO2 concentration. Additionally, there are presented more case studies regarding cities in India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, Brazil, and Ecuador. All these studies document an improvement in the atmosphere of the cities, with a significant reduction in nitrogen dioxide concentration during the lockdown period across all cities. However, in cases where data were available for ozone, its concentration increased. To draw conclusions about the impact of the pandemic on air quality in Athens, data on the concentrations of pollutants ΝΟ₂, PM10, PM2.5, O3 and SO2 were collected from three central stations during the months of March, April, and May 2020, which correspond to the period of the first lockdown in Greece. Subsequently, the same pollutants' concentrations were gathered for the same months in the previous three years. The average concentration of each pollutant in 2020 decreased, compared to the average concentrations of pollutants in the previous years. The most substantial reduction was observed in nitrogen dioxide (23.52%), while the decrease in concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 particles was lower (15.67% and 17.12% respectively). As nitrogen dioxide is directly associated with emissions from transportation and vehicular traffic, its dramatic reduction during lockdown periods likely caused the significant decrease in pollutant concentration in the atmosphere that was observed. However, the absence of nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere contributes to the development of atmospheric ozone concentration, explaining why ozone is the only pollutant that increased during the lockdown period. Finally, it is concluded that control or restriction measures on vehicular traffic can directly contribute to addressing city pollution.

Postgraduate Studies Programme

Βιομηχανική Διοίκηση και Τεχνολογία

Department

Σχολή Ναυτιλίας και Βιομηχανίας. Tμήμα Βιομηχανικής Διοίκησης και Tεχνολογίας

Number of pages

Language

Greek

URI

https://dione.lib.unipi.gr/xmlui/handle/unipi/16231
http://dx.doi.org/10.26267/unipi_dione/3653

Collections

Τμήμα Βιομηχανικής Διοίκησης και Τεχνολογίας

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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as
Αναφορά Δημιουργού-Μη Εμπορική Χρήση-Όχι Παράγωγα Έργα 3.0 Ελλάδα