In April 2020 the 大象传媒 Shared Data Unit reported on significant drops in air pollution in the two weeks since the country went into lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Daily readings from air quality monitoring stations since the lockdown was announced on 23 March were compared to the same period last year, accounting for weekdays.
The Shared Data Unit makes data journalism available to news organisations across the media industry, as part of a partnership between the 大象传媒 and the News Media Association. Stories generated by the partnership included:
- Radio Exe: 9 April 2020
- Oldham Evening Chronicle: 9 April 2020
- Birmingham Live: 12 April 2020
- The Lincolnite: 16 April 2020
- Plymouth Live: 21 April 2020
- Manchester Evening News: 23 April 2020
- Nottinghamshire Live: 24 April 2020
- Edinburgh Live: 26 April 2020
- Leeds Live: 27 April 2020
- Cheshire Live: 1 May 2020
The story was also used by 大象传媒 Tees, 大象传媒 Somerset, 大象传媒 Hereford & Worcester, 大象传媒 Radio Lincolnshire, 大象传媒 Radio Derby and 大象传媒 Radio Devon
Get the data
- Defra:
- XLSX:
Quotes and interviews
- Jenny Bates, clean air campaigner, Friends of the Earth
- William Bloss, professor of atmospheric science, University of Birmingham
- Simon Curry, ecologist and councillor, Medway Council
- Spokesperson, Defra
Visualisation
- Multiple line chart: Average daily nitrogen dioxide readings, March 17-April 5 2019 vs 2020
- Grouped bar chart: Daily nitrogen dioxide readings by most polluted areas, March 17-April 5 2019 vs 2020
Scripts
- R script: