CHARLOTTE, N.C. — America has been celebrating Earth Day for 50 years.
“It’s a cliché to say everyday should be Earth Day, but we certainly feel that’s true,” said Andrew Whelan with Clean Air Carolina.
This one is unique, though, because the coronavirus crisis has caused a break from the hustle and bustle of cars you’d typically see in Charlotte.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation says they’ve seen a 40-45% drop of vehicles on the highway over the last six weeks.
“Fewer cars on the road will mean fewer air emissions locally, and it’s possible that that could have temporary improvements,” Whelan said.
Whelan says vehicles play a major role in air quality.
“Transportation is the largest source of air pollution in our state,” Whelan said.
In fact, since the coronavirus crisis began, people around the world have reported higher visibility in major cities. The Northeastern states in the U.S. even showing drops in nitrogen dioxide pollution.
Whelan notes it’s too soon to tell impacts in our state.
“The data on that is early, probably too early to say anything on that one way or the other,” Whelan said.
Still, he says if the coronavirus crisis does lead to positive environmental impacts they would only be temporary.
“We need to find solutions to rein in air pollution, but we need those solutions to be sustainable,” Whelan said.
We all need air, so Whelan says we should focus year round on trying to keep it clean.
“This is our home, and it’s the only one we’ve got,” Whelan said, “and we need to take care of it. Because what impacts our earth impacts all of us.”
A spokesperson for Mecklenburg County air quality says they typically only analyze pollution twice a year, but because this is such an atypical event, they’ll be doing an analysis after things get back to normal.