The IMF announced last week that there were signs of an economic recovery in China after the coronavirus disruption. It based this view not on the rigorous collection of economic data on the ground, but on the satellite detection of increased NO2 levels in the atmosphere above Chinese cities.
Such are the clear trades-off between the health of people and the (so termed) health of the economy. We all knew this, of course, but it's good to be reminded so starkly of the reality as our own urban populations are now breathing cleaner air out of the house – when they manage to get there.
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