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This is China covered in pollution last year.
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But this year the skies are clear,
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that's because the coronavirus epidemic
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had brought much of the country to a standstill
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for several weeks causing a huge drop in pollutants
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like nitrogen dioxide,
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a harmful gas that's emitted when burning fossil fuel.
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Compared to previous years it's below typical levels.
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- If you close down factories or reducing the amount
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of cars on the road you're going
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to reduce the pollution levels.
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And from that we can deduce that the economic activity
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has been decreased.
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In early February Chinese president,
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Xi Jinping publicly declared a people's war
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against the virus,
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that extreme measures like shutdowns have prevented people
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from returning to work where necessary.
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But he also cautioned that those efforts
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should not jeopardize economic development.
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Now a dramatic change in pollution over the country suggests
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that striking that balance could be difficult.
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In the past few decades China has grown
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to become the world's largest coal consumer.
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Its large manufacturing-based economy burns 95&00:01:10,310 --> 00:01:11,750 of the country's coal,
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making it the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gasses.
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Usually during the Lunar New Year most industries wind down
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for a week and power plants burn a lot less coal.
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Coal consumption usually rebounds after the week-long break
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which means pollution levels pick up too.
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- Because the levels of nitrogen dioxide
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in China are so high we can easily detect that from space.
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This is what Wuhan,
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the epicenter of the coronavirus usually looks like
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after the holiday.
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The city is a key producer of automobiles,
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electronics and heavy machinery.
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But this year the demand
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for coal hasn't immediately rebounded since many workers
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have been stranded at home in locked down cities,
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and nitrogen dioxide levels have dipped.
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It's not just Wuhan,
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it's the same when you look
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at other industrial powerhouses in China.
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This is what Shandong and Hebei usually look like
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after the holiday.
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They're know for churning out everything
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from textiles and metals to petrochemicals.
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But this year they also weren't spared
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from the impact of the epidemic.
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While skies were clear in many parts of China,
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some cities like Beijing are still shrouded in smog.
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The city has recorded high levels of air pollutants.
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These fine particles are created
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during the chemical reaction of gasses generated
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from burning fuel.
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Heating systems in Beijing's geography
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can affect this reading.
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But there's one huge source of pollution
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that can't be missed,
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major steel makers around the capital don't stop production
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during the holiday because going offline is costlier
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than running all year round.
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So during the city shutdown some factories continue
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to produce steel.
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Li Hongmei is an analyst
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who tracks the Chinese metal industry.
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- Because of the outbreak all the normal pattern
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has been broken so the construction sites are still
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in the process of resuming work,
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that's why their steel consumption slow down and delayed.
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- [Narrator] Steel inventories are now at record high levels
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because buyers in the construction industry
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are demanding less right now.
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Home sales were already cooling before the virus,
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now they're below last year levels.
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- Whenever you're not so sure about your national economy
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you're not so sure about your job security,
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about your income.
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People definitely will be reducing expenditure
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in a investment.
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- [Narrator] In recent days Xi has been touting efforts
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to meet economic targets while containing the virus,
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like heavy stimulus to support banks and tax cuts
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for small businesses.
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But analysts say it's not clear whether these measures
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can help make up for lost ground.
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Some factories are slowly resuming production.
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- So pollution levels that we're observing from space
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are beginning to increase which may indicate
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that economic activity could be resuming.
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- [Narrator] Beijing recently put out the first full month
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of economic data after the virus hit China.
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The index tracks business sentiment among manufacturing
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and service sectors and it falls
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below the lowest level recorded
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during the global financial crisis.
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An increase in the number of infections overseas
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could also put China's economy at greater risk,
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complicating efforts to meet Xi's economic goals
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for this year.
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For now, one of the most visible indicators
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to see how it all plays out might be just
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to look up at the skies.
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(relaxing music)
