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The Environmental Affairs and Forestry Ministry has reported that based on monitoring of ambient air quality using the air quality monitoring system, the average air quality in Jakarta was much better in 2020 than in 2019.

The average PM2.5 concentration in Jakarta in 2020 was 28.63 micrograms per cubic meter, or down from 37.66 micrograms per cubic meter in 2019. The PM2.5 concentration last year was lower by nine micrograms per cubic meter compared to the previous year.

However, the ministry could not say for certain whether the improvement in air quality can be attributed to the pandemic or better weather. Based on data from the World Air Quality Report and the interactive ranking of the world’s most-polluted cities compiled by IQAir, Jakarta was one of the most polluted cities in the world in 2018.

The COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t just a shock to the human immune system. It was also a shock to the Earth system, dramatically changing the air quality in cities around the globe.

As countries around the globe struggled to contain the disease, they imposed temporary shutdowns. Scientists are now sifting through data collected by satellite and on the ground to understand what this hiatus in human activities can tell us about the atmospheric cocktail that generates city pollution

The average PM2.5 concentration in Jakarta in 2020 was 28.63 micrograms per cubic meter, or down from 37.66 micrograms per cubic meter in 2019. The PM2.5 concentration last year was lower by nine micrograms per cubic meter compared to the previous year.

However, the ministry could not say for certain whether the improvement in air quality can be attributed to the pandemic or better weather. Based on data from the World Air Quality Report and the interactive ranking of the world’s most-polluted cities compiled by IQAir, Jakarta was one of the most polluted cities in the world in 2018.

The COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t just a shock to the human immune system. It was also a shock to the Earth system, dramatically changing the air quality in cities around the globe.

As countries around the globe struggled to contain the disease, they imposed temporary shutdowns. Scientists are now sifting through data collected by satellite and on the ground to understand what this hiatus in human activities can tell us about the atmospheric cocktail that generates city pollution