One silver-lining during the coronavirus is that the tight restrictions imposed in Spain are already having dramatically positive results on pollution levels.
As Spain enters its third week of lockdown where heavy industry has stalled and people are confined to their homes it may come as small consolation to know that pollution levels have noticeably declined.
Satellite images charting nitrogen dioxide concentrations over Spain reveal just how much cleaner air has become in Spain’s cities since the lockdown began.
Using images taken by the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, which orbits at 800km from the earth’s surface, the maps were produced by the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI).
The maps below show the comparison between air quality for the 12 days (March 14 to March 25 after the restrictions were put in place by the Spanish government on March 13compared to the monthly average for March 2019.
Published The Local 31 March 2020