Government restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the new coronavirus appear to have led to major drops in pollution levels in parts of China and Italy. Earlier this month, pollution observing satellites over China discovered sharp decreases in levels of nitrogen dioxide, a gas that is mainly produced by motor vehicles, power plants and factories. The satellite data was released by the U.S. space agency NASA and the European Space Agency or ESA. There is evidence that the change is at least partly related to the economic slowdown following the outbreak of coronavirus, NASA said in a statement.