PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — As Oregon and Washington residents continue to reel from the impacts of the 2020 wildfires, those who recall extended weeks of air advisories and perpetual smog may find it difficult to believe the air quality within the Portland metro region improved from 2019 to 2020 — but those results are precisely the findings of a recent study.
Using data from the Environmental Protection Agency, a new Filterbuy study found COVID-19 shutdowns of 2020 improved air quality within the Portland, Hillsboro, and Vancouver area.
“Recent evidence suggests that COVID-19 shutdowns in 2020 also had a positive but short-lived effect on air quality,” the Filterbuy report stated. “When large parts of economic and social life worldwide halted at the beginning of the pandemic, there was a sharp drop-off in major sources of pollution like industrial production and vehicle usage. This meant that the atmosphere saw a temporary reduction in emissions of pollutants.”
According to the report, the Portland metro region experienced a 2.6% decline in median AQI from 2019 to 2020, which means the air quality within the area improved overall.
Although the study reported a decrease in the region’s median AQI, dropping from 38 in 2019 to 37 in 2020, the data showed “the percentage of days with good air quality” in the Portland metro remained the same for both years, hovering at 78.1%.
The report cited the Sep. 2021 UN study, “Air quality improvements from COVID lockdowns confirmed,” which found, “decreases of up to 30–40 percent overall of PM2. 5 concentrations during full lockdown in 2020, compared with the same periods in 2015–2019.”
However, both the UN and Filterbuy have said the measured air quality improvements in 2020, outlined in the US data have been primarily cancelled out by extreme weather events, such as the 2020 Oregon Wildfires.
Of the 55 large metro areas analyzed as part of the study, the Portland, Hillsboro, Vancouver region was ranked 28 for overall air quality.
The full Filterbuy report and links to the US data can be found here.