NY Times.com

By Nadja PopovichMarch 17, 2020

As the new coronavirus shuts down countries around the world, the impact can be seen from space.

A satellite that detects traces of human activity — tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks, fossil fuel burned in power plants and other industrial activities — shows striking reductions in pollution across China and Italy since the outbreak first started.

Both countries have taken unprecedented measures to limit the movement of people in the hope of slowing or even containing the spread of the disease. Even in South Korea, which has put more modest restrictions on the movement of its citizens, pollution appeared to fall.

“It’s the first time in history we’ve seen something like this,” said Marco Percoco, an associate professor of transportation economics at Bocconi University in Milan, referring to the speed and the size of the pollution declines in Italy and China.