Dr. Alex Turner, UW Atmospheric Sciences
Examining Air Quality Inequity in major US Cities during the COVID-19 Pandemic
This module is taught as part of ATM S 358: Fundamentals of Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Washington-Seattle. ATMS 358 is an introduction to the chemical and physical processes that determine the composition of the atmosphere and how these connect to climate, ecosystems, and human welfare. Topics include the nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, sulfur cycles, the chemical forcing of climate change, stratospheric ozone, the oxidizing power of the atmosphere, air pollution, and acid rain.
Overview
- Climate Justice Issue: The stark disparities in air pollution based on race, ethnicity, etc
- Target Audience: 300-level students
- Lesson Length: 1 class period (50 minutes) with prior preparation
- Learning Objectives:
- Quantify the magnitude of the inequity in air quality
- Understand how to approach the scientific literature
- Topic Overview:
- This lesson is centered around the paper “COVID-19 pandemic reveals persistent disparities in nitrogen dioxide pollution” by Kerr, Goldberg, and Anenberg.
- Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was evidence of stark disparities in air pollution linked to increased levels of traffic that leads to higher exposure for minority and low socioeconomic communities. For example, NO2levels in the least White census tracts of the United States were nearly triple the levels in the most White tracts. Because of the prevalence of highways and interstates in racially and ethnically diverse areas, the decrease in passenger traffic as a result of the lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the largest reductions in NO2 being linked to areas with 2.0 times more non-White residents and 2.1 times more Hispanic residents than the neighborhoods that experienced the smallest reductions. However, despite the largest reductions occurring in marginalized areas, non-White neighborhoods still had worse air quality during the lockdown than White neighborhoods before lockdown. Policies that aim to eliminate pollution disparities will need to address much more than simply reducing emissions from passenger traffic, but also consider other collocated sources of emissions, including heavy-duty vehicles.
- Chapter Components:
- Lesson Overview
- Instructor Guide
- Description of lesson preparation and lesson content as a Powerpoint
- Attribution
Instructor Guide
Lesson Plan
- Prior to class, each student should:
- Read the paper (5 pages long)
- Watch a short video from the author
- Post 2 discussion questions the night before
- If you have never used Canvas, here is how to create a discussion board
- During class, form breakout groups to discuss the posted questions
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- Assign each group 2 discussion questions for ~15 min
- Have groups report back on one question
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- As a class, discuss a couple of the figures in more detail
- Instruct students to speak to one person about the topic after the class
Attribution: Turner, A. “Examining Air Quality Inequity in Major US Cities During the COVID-19 Pandemic”. Climate Justice in Your Classroom, edited by Bertram, Brooks, and Olson, 2023. https://uw.pressbooks.pub/climatejustice/chapter/air-quality-inequity/ Date of Access.
