Air pollution over China has decreased significantly since the coronavirus outbreak, according to satellite images released by NASA and the European Space Agency, CNN reported on Sunday.

Nitogren dioxide, the gas that emanates from factories and cars and causes respiratory problems, was barely visible in late February compared with a much higher level a month earlier in the satellite images.

The coronavirus alert has shut down production in many factories and transportation has been dramatically cut back in an attempt to keep the virus from spreading.

The reduction in nitrogen dioxide was first detected over Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak originated.

"This is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area for a specific event," Fei Liu, an air quality researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a statement.

Liu said that during the recession that began in 2008 there was a decrease in nitrogen dioxide across several countries, but that reduction was much more gradual than what is currently happening.

Although pollution does usually decrease in China annually around the Lunar New Year celbrations, since many businesses close for the holiday, Liu said that "This year, the reduction rate is more significant than in past years and it has lasted longer." 

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