Did Turkey Experience Reductions in Air Pollution During The Covid-19 Lockdown and Partial Lockdown?

Öz

Air pollution, one of humanity's essential environmental problems due to the increasing population and urbanization, negatively affects the ecosystem and public health. During reduced human activity, such as martial law, war, and pandemics like COVID-19, improvements in air quality may be observed due to diminished anthropogenic impact. The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has caused widespread illness and fatalities. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a state of emergency at the end of December 2019 following the first recognition of the virus in Wuhan. The Turkish government declared this state on March 11, 2020, and implemented some measures, including a lockdown (LD) and a partial lockdown (PLD), to protect public and human health. The present study aims to determine the impact of LD and PLD on the air quality of fourteen selected cities in Turkey that participated in all LDs during the state of emergency on weekends and national and religious holidays. The hourly air quality data used in the study were collected from 105 air monitoring stations in fourteen cities. The non-parametric Kruskal Wallis test, followed by the Dunn's Bonferroni test for pairwise comparison, was employed to determine the differences in air quality between years. The findings indicated significant reductions in air pollution during LD and PLD: 21.1-40.3% and 8.9-29.8% in PM10, respectively, and 30.2-50.8% and 2.6-22.4% in NOx, respectively. SO2 and CO also varied significantly. While the changes in SO2 during LD and PLD went from 0.0% to 5.7% and -2.4% to 1.2%, respectively, those in CO ranged from -6.6% to 29.6% and 1.3% to 33.2%, respectively.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Pandemic
• COVID-19
• Air Quality
• Lockdown
• Air Pollutants

Türkiye, Covid-19 Kapanma ve Kısmi Kapanma Dönemlerinde Hava Kirliliğinde Azalmalar Yaşadı Mı?

Öz

Artan nüfus ve kentleşmeye bağlı olarak ortaya çıkan ve insanlığın temel sorunlarından biri olan hava kirliliği ekosistem ve halk sağlığını olumsuz etkilemektedir. Sıkıyönetim, savaş, COVID-19 gibi salgın hastalıkların yarattığı bazı koşullarda insanların çevre üzerindeki olumsuz etkisinin azalması nedeniyle hava kalitesinde de iyileşmeler görülebilmektedir. Yeni keşfedilen korona virüsün neden olduğu COVID-19 dünya çapında bir çok insanın hastalanmasına ve ölümüne neden olmuştur. Dünya Sağlık Örgütü (WHO), virüsün ilk kez Wuhan'da tanınmasının ardından Aralık 2019'un sonunda olağanüstü hal ilan etmiştir. Türkiye ise bu durumu 11 Mart 2020'de ilan etti ve ardından halk ve insan sağlığını korumak için karantina (LD) ve kısmi karantina (PLD) dahil olmak üzere bazı önlemler aldı. Bu çalışma, LD ve PLD'nin hafta sonları ile ulusal ve dini bayramlardaki olağanüstü hal sırasında LD'lere dahil olan on dört ilde hava kalitesi üzerindeki etkisini belirlemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışmada kullanılan saatlik hava kalitesi verileri, on dört ildeki 105 hava izleme istasyonundan toplanmıştır. Yıllar arasında hava kalitesindeki farklılıkları belirlemek için parametrik olmayan Kruskal Wallis testi ve ardından ikili karşılaştırma için Dunn's Bonferroni testi kullanılmıştır. Bulgular, LD ve PLD sırasında hava kirliliğinde önemli azalmalar olduğunu göstermiştir: LD ve PLD için sırasıyla PM10'da %21,1-40,3 ile %8,9-29,8 ve NOx'te %30,2-50,8 ile %2,6-22,4 şeklinde değişimler gözlenirken SO2 ve CO konsantrasyonlarında da anlamlı değişiklikler tespit edilmiştir. Bu değişimler LD ve PLD için sırasıyla SO2'de %0,0 ile %5,7, %-2,4 ile %1,2 arasında değişirken, CO'de %-6,6 ile %29,6 ve %1,3 ile %33,2 arasında ortaya çıkmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Pandemi
• COVID-19
• Hava Kalitesi
• Karantina
• Hava Kirleticileri

Kaynakça

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