Space agencies unveil site showing lockdown changes to Earth

You can now see how coronavirus lockdowns have changed air pollution, hospital lights and even white asparagus harvests.

CHINA PLANS TO COMPLETE SPACE STATION BY 2022

Using data from 17 satellites, three space agencies have created a website that serves as a global dashboard for temporary changes observed from orbit. The European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and NASA unveiled the Earth Observing Dashboard on Thursday at eodashboard.org.

The data, which will be expanded in the future, monitors 30 environmental indicators, 17 economic signals and three agricultural indices.

The dashboard reflects some signs of a return to normal in parts of the world.

VIRGIN GALACTIC STOCK PRICE LAUNCHED BY NASA DEAL, SPACEFLIGHT DEPOSITS

For example, nitrogen dioxide, which is an indicator of pollution from cars and industry: “We see an immediate reaction of the lockdown." Levels dropped around 50 percent in parts of Europe in April, said Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s director of Earth observations. Similar drops were seen at different times in the United States and China.

But now those pollution levels are rising again because cars are back on the road and industry has started up in Europe, Aschbacher said.

CLICK HERE TO GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO

Pollution levels are going down in South America and may be heading down again with a virus rebound in China, said NASA scientist Ken Jucks.

Other data, such as airplanes on the tarmac, don’t show as quick a return. You can zoom in on a map and even see the University of California San Francisco Medical Center’s night time lights brighten from January to April.

“This is the beauty of the dashboard,” Aschbacher said. “You can see which ones react immediately.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS