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posted by martyb on Tuesday March 17 2020, @10:53PM   Printer-friendly
from the take-a-deep-breath dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

New data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite reveal the decline of air pollution, specifically nitrogen dioxide emissions, over Italy. This reduction is particularly visible in northern Italy which coincides with its nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The animation shows the fluctuation of nitrogen dioxide emissions across Europe from 1 January 2020 until 11 March 2020, using a 10-day moving average. These data are thanks to the Tropomi instrument on board the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite which maps a multitude of air pollutants around the globe.

Claus Zehner, ESA's Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission manager, comments, "The decline in nitrogen dioxide emissions over the Po Valley in northern Italy is particularly evident.

"Although there could be slight variations in the data due to cloud cover and changing weather, we are very confident that the reduction in emissions that we can see, coincides with the lockdown in Italy causing less traffic and industrial activities."

Josef Aschbacher, ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes, says, "Copernicus Sentinel-5P Tropomi is the most accurate instrument today that measures air pollution from space. These measurements, globally available thanks to the free and open data policy, provide crucial information for citizens and decision makers."


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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by barbara hudson on Tuesday March 17 2020, @11:19PM (4 children)

    by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Tuesday March 17 2020, @11:19PM (#972539) Journal

    I jest, but both China and Italy have many more males dying of COVID-19 than females. This is because males in both countries are far more likely to be smokers, and smoking screws up your lungs.

    Nothing new [businessinsider.com]

    The deadly coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, has infected more men than women, and scientists are divided about why that is.

    The virus, which causes a disease known as COVID-19, has killed more than 2,700 people and infected more than 80,000, with the vast majority of cases in mainland China. (For the latest case total and death toll, see Business Insider's live updates here.)

    A study of more than 44,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in China offers one of the broadest pictures of how the virus operates in humans so far. The study found that men are more likely to die of the virus, with a fatality rate of 2.8% compared to 1.7% for women. Men also represented a slight majority of cases: around 51%.

    Other recent research has produced similar results. A study of nearly 140 coronavirus patients at a Wuhan University hospital found that the virus was most likely to affect older men with preexisting health problems. More than 54% of the patients in the study were men, and the median age of patients was 56.

    A study of 99 coronavirus patients at Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital showed that the average patient was 55.5 years old, and men represented around 68% of the total cases. A third study of nearly 1,100 coronavirus patients (which is still awaiting peer review) identified a median age of 47, with men representing around 58% of the cases.

    This data has led some researchers to suspect that certain biological factors might make men more susceptible to the virus. But Chinese men also smoke more than Chinese women, which increases the risk of respiratory problems. SARS affected more men, too

    In the absence of much reliable, broad data about the new coronavirus, scientists have turned to a similar outbreak — the SARS pandemic from 2002 to 2003 — for clues. Michael Ryan, executive director of the World Heath Organization's Health Emergencies Program, said on February 14 that smoking is "an excellent hypothesis" for why the virus has affected more men. A 2010 national survey of smoking in China found that 62% of Chinese men had been smokers at some point, while only 3% of Chinese women had ever smoked.

    "There is a marked difference between male and females in this outbreak in terms of severity. And there's certainly a marked difference in those habits in China," Ryan said at a press conference. "I think it should be relatively straightforward to establish the science."

    Plenty of disclaimers about how it might not be smoking, taken right from Mike Pence's playbook. Can't afford to offend Big Tobacco.

    But the fact is that both China and Italy have far more men dying than women, and other countries aren't seeing that - the difference being the higher smoking rates of men in both China and Italy. In Canada, for instance, it's 49/51 for infection rates between men and women as of this afternoon's news.

    So all you desperate smokers who were going on about how you read something on Reddit that smoking protects people because of initial data from China - you were trolled. Stop smoking.

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  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday March 17 2020, @11:47PM (1 child)

    by Bot (3902) on Tuesday March 17 2020, @11:47PM (#972551) Journal

    Anyway among the young generation it's been females who smoke at least as much as males. The stats still makes a lot of sense as youngsters are less targeted by the corona, or less likely to die from problems exacerbated by the corona.

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    Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 3, Touché) by barbara hudson on Wednesday March 18 2020, @01:02AM

      by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Wednesday March 18 2020, @01:02AM (#972572) Journal
      And damage accumulates with total years smoked, so older people will always be more susceptible. Serves older smokers right for setting a shitty example of "do as I say, not as I do" to the next generations.
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  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @02:35AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @02:35AM (#972606)

    All this talk about smoking... *goes for a somke*

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday March 18 2020, @12:29PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 18 2020, @12:29PM (#972734) Journal

    So all you desperate smokers who were going on about how you read something on Reddit that smoking protects people because of initial data from China - you were trolled.

    But if I read it on Reddit, it must be true!