Major global cities see air pollution increases post-lockdown

As the world slowly revolves back to normality, some cities are still benefitting from lockdown-related improvements to air quality, while others are slipping back into a haze.

That’s according to new research collated by Global Workspace Provider Instant Offices, which revealed air pollution has increased six out of the top fifteen major cities since June.   

Beijing, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town and New York saw a double-digit increase in PM2.5 levels since lockdown ended.

New York City saw a considerable dip in PM2.5 levels during peak lockdown when pollution levels plunged by 59%. As things in the city slowly start to return to normal, however, there has been a 33% increase in air pollution as PM2.5 levels spring to almost pre-lockdown levels.

During peak lockdown, air pollution reduced in Hong Kong by 16%, in Sydney by 13%, and in Singapore by 14%, with the trend continuing into post-lockdown as Hong Kong saw a further 127% reduction in air pollution, followed by 35% in Sydney and 23% in Singapore. Brisbane saw an increase in pollution during lockdown but has since seen an improvement of almost 10%.

During peak lockdown in April and May, air pollution increased in Melbourne, Cape Town and Los Angeles, by 24%, 13% and 3% respectively. The trend continued into June and July as lockdowns began to relax, with Melbourne air pollution increasing by 17% followed by Los Angeles at 16%, and Cape Town, with a huge 23% increase.

In Europe, Madrid has not seen air quality improvements. As lockdown eased in the city in June and July and commuters hit the roads again, air pollution rose by 21%.

For all the information on the analysis that Instant Offices collected around the top cities with the biggest rise in Air Pollution Post-Lockdown, you can find this here: https://www.instantoffices.com/blog/featured/air-pollution-cities-post-lockdown/