How is COVID-19 affecting environmental pollution in US cities? Evidence from asymmetric Fourier causality test
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How is COVID-19 affecting environmental pollution in US cities? Evidence from asymmetric Fourier causality test Ugur Korkut Pata 1 Received: 1 June 2020 / Accepted: 8 July 2020 # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract This paper aims to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on PM2.5 emissions in eight selected US cities with populations of more than 1 million. To this end, the study employs an asymmetric Fourier causality test for the period of January 15, 2020 to May 4, 2020. The outcomes indicate that positive shocks in COVID-19 deaths cause negative shocks in PM2.5 emissions for New York, San Diego, and San Jose. Moreover, in terms of cases, positive shocks in COVID-19 cause negative shocks in PM2.5 emissions for Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Antonio, and San Jose. Overall, the findings of the study highlight that the pandemic reduces environmental pressure in the largest cities of the USA. This implies that one of the rare positive effects of the virus is to reduce air pollution. Therefore, for a better environment, US citizens should review the impact of current production and consumption activities on anthropogenic environmental problems. Keywords PM2.5 emissions . COVID-19 . Asymmetric Fourier causality . Economic activities . The USA
Introduction Many health, social, and economic problems have emerged with the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China. In addition to causing pneumonia, the virus damages the heart, liver, and kidneys, as well as the immune system as a whole, as a result of which COVID-19 patients die due to multiple organ disorders (Huang et al. 2020). To date, no proven and effective treatment method has been identified against the virus (Cortegiani et al. 2020). The pandemic has spread rapidly from a single city to an entire country in as little as 30 days (Wu and McGoogan 2020). Since the virus is transmitted rapidly from person to person (Chan et al. 2020), numerous countries have called on their citizens to stay at home and apply social distancing rules to prevent the pandemic from spreading. Various lockdown measures have been implemented to flatten the pandemic curve, such as shutting down industries, halting vehicular traffic, increasing social distance, and stopping non-essential business activities (Bherwani et al. 2020). These measures, in turn, affect
* Ugur Korkut Pata [email protected]; [email protected] 1
Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Economics, Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, 80000 Merkez/ Osmaniye, Turkey
economic production and consumption activities. In the COVID-19 era, industrial activities have slowed down, vehicle use has decreased, the demand for imported goods has decreased, and many countries have suspended air travel— both international and domestic. Economic activities and environmental pollution, especially air pollution, are closely related. Particle matter 2.5 (PM2.5), one of the air pollution indicators, causes cardiovascular disease and lung cancer (Khan et al. 201
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