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Economic crisis detected from space: Air quality observations over Athens/Greece
Author(s) -
Vrekoussis M.,
Richter A.,
Hilboll A.,
Burrows J. P.,
Gerasopoulos E.,
Lelieveld J.,
Barrie L.,
Zerefos C.,
Mihalopoulos N.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/grl.50118
Subject(s) - recession , air quality index , ozone , environmental science , climatology , atmospheric sciences , troposphere , pollutant , tropospheric ozone , air pollution , nox , air pollutants , meteorology , geography , chemistry , economics , geology , organic chemistry , keynesian economics , combustion
Using both satellite observations of tropospheric NO 2 columns and a number of economic metrics, we investigate the impact of the economic crisis (from 2008 onward) on air quality over Greece, and Athens in particular. The multiannual analysis shows that NO 2 columns over Athens have been significantly reduced in the range 30–40%. This decline is further supported by surface measurements of atmospheric NO 2 mixing ratios. Additionally, the declining local concentrations of NO, CO, and SO 2 are associated with an increase in ozone due to reduced titration by NO. In particular, regression analysis revealed that the reduction of NO 2 (0.3 ± 0.2 ppbv y −1 ) and SO 2 (0.2 ± 0.1 ppbv y −1 ) during the period 2000–2007, significantly accelerated during the economic crisis period (from 2008 onward), reaching 2.3 ± 0.2 ppbv y −1 and 0.7 ± 0.1 ppbv y −1 , respectively. The strong correlations between pollutant concentrations and economic indicators show that the economic recession has resulted in proportionally lower levels of pollutants in large parts of Greece.