Los Angeles skyline is one obscured by smog, with thick air pollution hanging over.
Under stay-at-home orders to stem the deadly outbreak of coronavirus, something dramatic has happened to the air in LA. In April 2020, LA saw some of the cleanest air of any major city in the world, according to IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company that also monitors pollution levels in cities around the globe.
And beginning in early March of this year, EPA air quality data shows that the city of Angels experienced its longest stretch of “good” air quality since at least 1995.
Dr. Yifang Zhu, a professor of environmental health sciences at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health, said that she and her colleagues identified a similar trend. Between March 16 — three days before California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the state’s 40 million residents to stay home — and April 6, Zhu’s team found there was a 20% improvement in overall air quality in Southern California.
Zhu’s team also found a 40% drop in levels of PM 2.5, a class of microscopic air pollutants that have been linked to serious cardiovascular and respiratory problems, especially in children and the elderly. Zhu said vehicle traffic is a big contributor in Southern California. Since California’s stay-at-home order went into effect, Zhu’s team has found that traffic across the state has fallen by around 80%. The massive drop — in one of the most traffic-choked states in the country — is likely a big reason for the cleaner air.
On the other hand, with more than 1 million unemployment claims, the Los Angeles County economy has taken a devastating hit with most layoffs among lower-income jobs, officials said.
The restaurant industry has seen 80% of jobs lost, and 890,000 people in the film and entertainment employees are not working. Among the more than 1 million who faced layoffs, over 75% earned an average annual salary of less than $50,000 a year, Barger said, citing data from the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation.
“Economic impacts created by COVID-19 have hurt our most vulnerable populations,” L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said. “The most prolonged closure means that many small businesses may not be able to reopen and will cause permanent job losses for millions throughout this county.”
We have seen pros and cons in the environment and economic impacts of coronavirus pandemic so now, we have to figure out how do we meet the economic growth and the environmental quality for the post-pandemic era.
Sources:
- https://youtu.be/TGnAPZS6LHM
- https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/07/us/los-angeles-pollution-clean-air-coronavirus-trnd/index.html
- https://ktla.com/news/local-news/los-angeles-county-officials-to-address-covid-19-outbreak-as-questions-remain-over-reopening
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/28/los-angeles-deserted-coronavirus-outbreak-california
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