Things may seem bad with the outbreak of COVID-19. 

Countries and places are locking down, companies are forced to go on break, people are staying at home, and the economy has certainly dropped drastically during this period of time. 

If there's one good thing about this outbreak, it's probably how the COVID-19 is SAVING THE MOTHER EARTH.

Yes, you've heard it right.

According to NASA and European Space Agency (ESA), the concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) over China has significantly decreased when China has gone into quarantine phase. "This is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area for a specific event," said an air quality researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

The maps show the NO2 values across China from 01/01 - 20/01/2020 (before the quarantine) and 10/02 - 25/02/2020 (during the quarantine). You can easily observe the difference between these two, and this shows how big the effect is. 

(Data from Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) on ESA’s Sentinel-5 satellite)

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a gaseous air pollutant that forms when fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gas or diesel are burned at high temperatures. It is commonly emitted by motor vehicles, power plants, and industrial facilities.

In this fast-paced period of time, the emission of such gas is definitely at peak with the overly crowded vehicles on the street and the tirelessly working factories. And it has a great effect on human health as well as the environment. To draw out its seriousness, Nitrogen dioxide interact with water, oxygen and other chemicals, to form Acid Rain.

However, with the quarantines and closing down of companies and factories, it has definitely put this emission to a break, giving Earth a time to recover. While this poses an interesting question: is it that what's beneficial to the Earth is never parallel to what's beneficial to Development/Economy? Or is it that we are not on par to make it so yet?? Tell us what you think in the comment.

News source from NASA Earth Observatory.