After the coronavirus lockdown commenced, there have been prominent changes in the environment. Following the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, many countries had adopted lockdown procedures that stopped people from moving out and carrying out activities.
Restricted human activities with nature during this crisis time has appeared as a blessing in disguise for the environment.
Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the air around us was indeed very toxic to breathe in due to the number of greenhouse gases that had been emitted over the centuries. Temperatures started rising on the Earth, which in turn led to the melting of glaciers and rising sea levels. Environmental degradation was happening fast due to the depletion of resources such as air, water, and soil. But after the coronavirus lockdown commenced, there have been prominent changes in the environment.
The global reduction in human activity has caused many regions to experience a large drop in levels of air pollution. A study published in May 2020 found that the daily global carbon emissions during the lockdown measures in early April fell by 17% and could lead to an annual carbon emissions decline of up to 7%, which would be the biggest drop since World War II according to the researchers. These decreases are mainly to the reduction of transportation usage and industrial activities.
In China, lockdown and other measures resulted in a 25 percent reduction in carbon emissions and a 50 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides emissions.
Source: Evening Standard
In Venice, the absence of tourism and decreased canal traffic has vastly improved the clarity of the canals and marine life has subsequently returned. The increase in water clarity was due to the settling of sediment that is disturbed by boat traffic and mentioned the decrease in air pollution along the waterways. A lot of other marine life including shoals of small fish, crabs, and multicolored plant-life has been spotted by the locals.
Talking about wildlife, the pandemic has put restrictions on human activities which in turn has made the wildlife roam around in the cities silently. Dolphins have started to appear in France while puma has been spotted in Chile and even mountain goats have made appearances on the street of Wales. Not only this, but the government has also started passing laws to prohibit wildlife trade as the virus is said to have originated from a market selling wild animals in China.
A report by the London-based think tank Carbon Tracker concludes that the coronavirus pandemic may lead the fossil fuel industry to a "terminal decline" as demand for oil and gas goes down while governments aim to accelerate the clean energy transition. It predicts that an annual 2% decline in demand for fossil fuels could cause the future profits of oil, gas, and coal companies to collapse from an estimated $39tn to $14tn.
Coming back home, we have seen a major shift in the environment in India. Be it clear blue skies or visible twinkling stars at night. Counting stars is not an impossible task anymore, thanks to nature being off-limits to humanity.
According to CNN, there has been a dramatic impact on pollution in India with its lower levels of PM 2.5 which is a harmful microscopic particulate matter that could not only cause respiratory illness but also cardiac arrests and premature death.
The most wondrous effect was seen in Delhi who in 2019 was regarded as the world’s most polluted city, due to the nationwide lockdown saw a plunge in the average concentration of PM2.5 by 71% in the space of a week.
Jyoti Lavakare ( Co-founder of Indian environmental organization ‘Care for Air’ and author of the upcoming book ‘Breathing here is injurious to health' said, “I have not seen such blue skies in Delhi for the past 10 years”
Another major issue of pre lockdown India was water pollution.
However, According to Livemint “Ganga is cleaner than before in Haridwar, Varanasi, due to the decrease in industrial discharge, the quality of the river water has improved by 50%"
Concluding, It can be said that COVID-19 has brought the world under a dark cloud however it has positive impacts on the environment since the government put restrictions on human activity. From improvement in air quality index to the wildlife roaming freely on streets across the world, we have come a long way but problems like plastic pollution have on the other hand increased due to the production and demand of PPE kits, masks, disposable cutlery, etc.
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