COVID-19 impacts on Environment
In the period of only a few months, the world has changed. Thousands of people have died, and hundreds of thousands have been infected by COVID-19. People's lives across the world have been drastically changed by this virus.
In Italy, the most restrictive travel procedures were placed since World War II. In London, the normally busy bars, theatres, and other public spaces have been closed and people have been asked to stay at home. In airports everywhere flights have been canceled.
Most people are staying at home, practicing social distancing and working remotely to control the spread of the virus and flatten the curve (Harapan et al., 2020). Despite the obvious downsides of being stuck at home, these restrictions have led to some unexpected consequences. As industries, transportation systems and other businesses come to a halt, here has been a sudden drop in carbon emissions. Compared to this time last year, levels of air pollution in New York have dropped at almost 50% due to the coronavirus measures. In China, emissions data shows a 25% decrease at the starting point of the year as people were told to stay at home and factories closed. According to the ministry of Ecology and Environment, the amount of good quality air was around 11.4% more than the percentage at the same time last year in more than 330 cities all over China. In Europe, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emission dropped over northern Italy, Spain and the UK, as shown in satellite images (Ficetola and Rubolini, 2020).
This epidemic has also caused extensive job losses and threatened the livelihoods of millions of people and businesses. Economic activities have taken a hit and stock markets plumets. Though an epidemic of this nature should not be seen as a 'good' way to bring about environmental change, it is important to recognise the benefits it has had, and what we can do to help the environment going forward.
We do not know for certain for how long this dip in emission will last. When the epidemic finally relents and we return to our pre-quarantine routines, carbon and other pollutant emissions, will likely return to their original state, as if this clear skied interlude never happened (McCloskey and Heymann, 2020).
Another unexpected environmental impact of coronavirus has been observed in Venice, Italy. Tourist numbers saw a significant drop due to the coronavirus, and the waters in Venice's canals have become cleaner than the past. Motorboats, sediment churning and other water pollutants have stopped, and residents are amazed at the clear waters and the visible fish.
One of the other effects of coronavirus on environment is the noticeable drop in coal consumption. This has contributed to a large scale drop in air pollutants in China especially. The number of airborne pollutants like CO2, CO and nitrous oxides have fallen too. Millions of people are still in lockdown across the globe, and energy consumption profiles in buildings have been disturbed. Because many people are now working from home, domestic energy consumption is predicted to rise very quickly. The predictions data showed that it has risen already from approximately 6 to 8% in the US. Nevertheless, this pandemic would ultimately save energy and may also reduce the consumption of polluting fuels in power stations (Lau et al., 2020).
As we emerge from this pandemic it is important that we remember the effects of our actions and do our best to reduce our own emmissions while pushing for greener legislature.
