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Ongoma V, Epule TE, Brouziyne Y, Tanarhte M, Chehbouni A. COVID-19 response in Africa: impacts and lessons for environmental management and climate change adaptation. Environ Dev Sustain 2023:1-23. [PMID: 36714211 PMCID: PMC9873540 DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-02956-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic adds pressure on Africa; the most vulnerable continent to climate change impacts, threatening the realization of most Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The continent is witnessing an increase in intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, and environmental change. The COVID-19 was managed relatively well across in the continent, providing lessons and impetus for environmental management and addressing climate change. This work examines the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment and climate change, analyses its management and draws lessons from it for climate change response in Africa. The data, findings and lessons are drawn from peer reviewed articles and credible grey literature on COVID-19 in Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic spread quickly, causing loss of lives and stagnation of the global economy, overshadowing the current climate crisis. The pandemic was managed through swift response by the top political leadership, research and innovations across Africa providing possible solutions to COVID-19 challenges, and redirection of funds to manage the pandemic. The well-coordinated COVID-19 containment strategy under the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention increased sharing of resources including data was a success in limiting the spread of the virus. These strategies, among others, proved effective in limiting the spread and impact of COVID-19. The findings provide lessons that stakeholders and policy-makers can leverage in the management of the environment and address climate change. These approaches require solid commitment and practical-oriented leadership. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10668-023-02956-0.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Ongoma
- International Water Research Institute, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Lot 660, Hay Moulay Rachid, 43150 Ben Guerir, Morocco
| | - Terence Epule Epule
- International Water Research Institute, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Lot 660, Hay Moulay Rachid, 43150 Ben Guerir, Morocco
| | - Youssef Brouziyne
- International Water Management Institute, Level 3, 7 Abd El-Hady Saleh St., Off Nile Street, Giza, Egypt
| | - Meryem Tanarhte
- Faculty of Sciences and Techniques of Mohammedia, Laboratory of Process Engineering and Environment, Hassan II University of Casablanca, 20650 Mohammedia, Morocco
| | - Abdelghani Chehbouni
- International Water Research Institute, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Lot 660, Hay Moulay Rachid, 43150 Ben Guerir, Morocco
- Center for Remote Sensing and Applications, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Lot 660, Hay Moulay Rachid, 43150 Ben Guerir, Morocco
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Wu Q, Li T, Zhang S, Fu J, Seyler BC, Zhou Z, Deng X, Wang B, Zhan Y. Evaluation of NOx emissions before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdowns in China: A comparison of meteorological normalization methods. Atmos Environ (1994) 2022; 278:119083. [PMID: 35350168 PMCID: PMC8949849 DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2022.119083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2021] [Revised: 03/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Meteorological normalization refers to the removal of meteorological effects on air pollutant concentrations for evaluating emission changes. There currently exist various meteorological normalization methods, yielding inconsistent results. This study aims to identify the state-of-the-art method of meteorological normalization for characterizing the spatiotemporal variation of NOx emissions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in China. We obtained the hourly data of NO2 concentrations and meteorological conditions for 337 cities in China from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2020. Three random-forest based meteorological normalization methods were compared, including (1) the method that only resamples meteorological variables, (2) the method that resamples meteorological and temporal variables, and (3) the method that does not need resampling, denoted as Resample-M, Resample-M&T, and Resample-None, respectively. The comparison results show that Resample-M&T considerably underestimated the emission reduction of NOx during the lockdowns, Resample-None generates widely fluctuating estimates that blur the emission recovery trend during work resumption, and Resample-M clearly delineates the emission changes over the entire period. Based on the Resample-M results, the maximum emission reduction occurred during January to February 2020, for most cities, with an average decrease of 19.1 ± 9.4% compared to 2019. During April of 2020 when work resumption initiated to the end of 2020, the emissions rapidly bounced back for most cities, with an average increase of 12.6 ± 15.8% relative to those during the strict lockdowns. Consequently, we recommend using Resample-M for meteorological normalization, and the normalized NO2 concentration dynamics for each city provide important implications for future emission reduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qinhuizi Wu
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610065, China
| | - Tao Li
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610065, China
| | - Shifu Zhang
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610065, China
| | - Jianbo Fu
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610065, China
| | - Barnabas C Seyler
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610065, China
| | - Zihang Zhou
- Chengdu Academy of Environmental Sciences, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610072, China
| | - Xunfei Deng
- Institute of Digital Agriculture, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310021, China
| | - Bin Wang
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610065, China
| | - Yu Zhan
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610065, China
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Moazeni M, Maracy MR, Dehdashti B, Ebrahimi A. Spatiotemporal analysis of COVID-19, air pollution, climate, and meteorological conditions in a metropolitan region of Iran. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2022; 29:24911-24924. [PMID: 34826084 PMCID: PMC8619654 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-17535-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has a close relationship with local environmental conditions. This study explores the effects of climate characteristics and air pollution on COVID-19 in Isfahan province, Iran. A number of COVID-19 positive cases, main air pollutants, air quality index (AQI), and climatic variables were received from March 1, 2020, to January 19, 2021. Moreover, CO, NO2, and O3 tropospheric levels were collected using Sentinel-5P satellite data. The spatial distribution of variables was estimated by the ordinary Kriging and inverse weighted distance (IDW) models. A generalized linear model (GLM) was used to analyze the relationship between environmental variables and COVID-19. The seasonal trend of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), wind speed, solar energy, and rainfall like COVID-19 was upward in spring and summer. The high and low temperatures increased from April to August. All variables had a spatial autocorrelation and clustered pattern except AQI. Furthermore, COVID-19 showed a significant association with month, climate, solar energy, and NO2. Suitable policy implications are recommended to be performed for improving people's healthcare and control of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study could survey the local spread of COVID-19, with consideration of the effect of environmental variables, and provides helpful information to health ministry decisions for mitigating harmful effects of environmental change. By means of the proposed approach, probably the COVID-19 spread can be recognized by knowing the regional climate in major cities. The present study also finds that COVID-19 may have an effect on climatic condition and air pollutants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malihe Moazeni
- Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
- Student Research Committee, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Mohammad Reza Maracy
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
- Environment Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-Communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Bahare Dehdashti
- Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
- Student Research Committee, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Afshin Ebrahimi
- Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
- Environment Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-Communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
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Kripalani R, Ha KJ, Ho CH, Oh JH, Preethi B, Mujumdar M, Prabhu A. Erratic Asian summer monsoon 2020: COVID-19 lockdown initiatives possible cause for these episodes? Clim Dyn 2022; 59:1339-1352. [PMID: 35095207 PMCID: PMC8784227 DOI: 10.1007/s00382-021-06042-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The summer (June through September) monsoon 2020 has been very erratic with episodes of heavy and devastating rains, landslides and catastrophic winds over South Asia (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh), East Asia (China, Korea, and Japan), and Southeast Asia (Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia). The withdrawal of the summer monsoon over India was delayed by 2 weeks. The monsoon season over East Asia has been the longest. China recorded a Dam burst in the twentieth century. Furthermore, the Korean Peninsula has experienced back-to-back severe tropical cyclones. Could the lockdown activities initiate to control the COVID-19 spread a possible cause for these major episodes? The strict enforcement of the lockdown regulations has led to a considerable reduction of air pollutants-dust and aerosols throughout the world. A recent study based on satellites and merged products has documented a statistically significant mean reduction of about 20, 8, and 50% in nitrogen dioxide, Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and PM2.5 concentrations, respectively over the megacities across the globe. Our analysis reveals a considerable reduction of about 20% in AOD over South as well as over East Asia, more-over East Asia than over South Asia. The reduced aerosols have impacted the strength of the incoming solar radiation as evidenced by enhanced warming, more-over the land than the oceans. The differential warming over the land and the ocean has resulted in the amplification of the meridional ocean-land thermal contrast and strengthening of the monsoon flow. These intense features have supported the surplus transport of moisture from the oceans towards the main lands. Some similarity between the anomalous rainfall pattern and the anomalous AOD pattern is discernable. In particular, the enhancement of rainfall, the reduction in AOD and the surface temperature warming match very well over two regions one over West-Central India and the other over the Yangzte River Valley. Results further reveal that the heavy rains over the Yangzte River Valley could be associated with the preceding reduced aerosols, while the heavy rains over West-Central India could be associated with reduced aerosols and also due to the surface temperature warming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramesh Kripalani
- Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, 411008 India
- Residence: B-303 Sai Royale Society, Wanowari, Pune 411040 India
| | - Kyung-Ja Ha
- Center for Climate Physics, Institute for Basic Science, Busan, South Korea
- Research Center for Climate Sciences and Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea
| | - Chang-Hoi Ho
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | | | - B. Preethi
- Center for Climate Change Research, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, India
| | - Milind Mujumdar
- Center for Climate Change Research, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, India
| | - Amita Prabhu
- Radar and Satellite Meteorology Project, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, India
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Kunchala RK, Singh BB, Karumuri RK, Attada R, Seelanki V, Kumar KN. Understanding the spatiotemporal variability and trends of surface ozone over India. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2022; 29:6219-6236. [PMID: 34448143 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-16011-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 08/13/2021] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
With rising anthropogenic activities, surface ozone levels have increased across different parts of the world including India. Previous studies have shown that surface ozone shows distinct characteristics across India but these results are based on isolated locations and any comprehensive and spatiotemporally consistent study about surface ozone variability lacks thus far. Keeping these facts in mind, we utilize ground-based observations and reanalysis datasets to investigate spatiotemporal variations of surface ozone and its linkages with meteorology and precursors over Indian region. A validation exercise shows that the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service Reanalysis (CAMSRA) reasonably compares against the ground-based observations showing better correlations (> 0.7) over southern regions and relatively lesser (> 0.5) correlations over northern and eastern regions. We have further quantified this agreement in terms of range, mean absolute error (MAE), and root mean square error (RMSE). A time series analysis shows that the CAMSRA captures seasonal variations irrespective of location. Spatial distribution of surface ozone shows higher (lower) concentrations of about 40-60 ppb (15-20 ppb) during pre-monsoon (monsoon) months over northern and western parts and peninsular India. A prominent increase during May is noted over the northern region, especially over the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). These seasonal variations are linked to solar radiation (SR), temperature, low-level circulation, and boundary layer height (BLH). CAMSRA-based surface ozone shows increasing trends across all four regions (north, east, west, and south India) and also India as a whole (0.069 ppb year-1, p = 0.001) with highest trends over the eastern region. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) reveals that the first (second) mode shows a high percentage variance explained, ranging between 30 and 50% (10-20%). The corresponding PC-1 time series exhibits a notable increase in the surface ozone over south and central India, which corroborates the trend obtained through the area averaged time series. The second mode (PC-2) indicates prominent interannual variability over the IGP (southern India) in the pre-monsoon (post-monsoon). During the monsoon season, an interesting dipole pattern is noticeable, which closely resembles the active and break spell patterns of the Indian summer monsoon. Further, we quantify the weightage of precursors and meteorological parameters on surface ozone concentrations. The analysis suggests that PC1 of surface ozone is strongly influenced by CO and NOx (the precursors) while meteorology seems to dominate the PC2 during the pre-monsoon season. Overall, the results indicate that changes in the precursors or meteorological conditions have significant influences on the surface ozone concentrations across India.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ravi Kumar Kunchala
- Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, 110016, India.
| | - Bhupendra Bahadur Singh
- Centre for Climate Change Research, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pune, 411 008, India
| | - Rama Krishna Karumuri
- Physical Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Raju Attada
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali, Punjab, 140306, India
| | - Vivek Seelanki
- Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, 110016, India
| | - Kondapalli Niranjan Kumar
- National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Noida, 201309, India
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