With lockdown and safety measures in place, people practicing social distancing and industrial operations being unable to proceed, our environment has seen considerable change. Could the COVID-19 outbreak possibly be our solution to help tackle the climate crisis? Or is this all just a temporary change?
The ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic that defines the global health crisis we are currently facing has transformed the world drastically. Originating from the city of Wuhan in December 2019, this virus has managed to journey its way into numerous other countries and eventually, conquer the world, with 213 countries and territories affected as of today according to the Worldometer June 15 2020 update.
Over 423,081 people have died from the coronavirus and 7,583,891 more have been infected. Countries all over the world have implemented lockdown measures, travel restrictions have been imposed, countless public places have been closed down and those who are able to do so are residing at home, all in an attempt to control
and fight the spread of COVID-19. However, all this change has simultaneously led to
other consequences, one of which involving the impact on the environment and as a result,
both the conservation and the restoration of environmental quality are experiencing a
new normal as the pandemic continues.
Improved Air Quality
The COVID-19 crisis has seen reduced concentrations of pollutants present in the air, and thus, cleaner and improved air quality. NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) pollution monitoring satellites have detected a conspicuous decrease in nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a detrimental, gaseous air pollutant produced as a result of road traffic and high-temperature fossil fuel combustion processes, over China, and evidence shows that the change is a reflection of the economic slowdown following the COVID-19 outbreak.
The maps (as shown on the right) display NO2 values across China from January
1-20 (before the quarantine) and February 10-25 (during the quarantine), illustrating a significant decrease in NO2 concentrations.
“This is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area for a specific event." - Fei Lui, an air quality researcher at NASA's Goddard space flight center.
A similar story is playing out in other countries including Italy, to which Claus Zehner, European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission manager reported, “The decline in NO2 emissions over the Po Valley in northern Italy is particularly evident”.
Reduced Carbon Emissions
The COVID-19 outbreak has forced activities to a halt, and industries, businesses as well as transport networks have closed down, in turn bringing a sudden drop in carbon emissions.
With many countries in lockdown and travel bans in place, there are substantially fewer cars and airplanes in motion. As such, vehicular and aviation emissions, which make up 23% of global carbon emissions according to Kimberly Nicholas, a sustainability science researcher at Lund University in Sweden, have dropped significantly.
Carbon Brief (CB) reported that China’s CO2 emissions have reduced by a quarter as a result of the pandemic. Moreover, CB published that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted energy use worldwide, which could cut carbon emissions by an estimated 5% of 2019’s global total. That means that the pandemic is so far “triggering the largest ever annual fall in CO2 emissions in 2020, more than during any previous economic crisis or period of war”.
Conservation of wildlife
Wildlife conservation awareness has increased substantially as a consequence of the
COVID-19 outbreak. Firstly, as cited by Scientific American, wildlife trade secured additional disrepute after the CDC announced the cause of the current pandemic: a zoonotic pathogen moving from animals to humans. Secondly, when the American Veterinary Medical Association made a statement regarding the positive presence of COVID-19 in domestic animals, this drove zoos to run tests on their animals, whom of which likewise saw captive animals test positive with the virus. Furthermore, this led to sources including UNESCO, Nature and Time raising their concerns in respect to the protection of endangered and threatened species, such as the great apes.
Wrap Up
Despite the unprecedented event of the COVID-19 pandemic and some of the adverse effects it has brought, the outbreak has also had its good consequences and the earth seems to be healing in some ways. Though it is uncertain whether these changes in the environment will be long-lasting, this pandemic has led to the introduction of lasting habits such as travelling less and cutting down on food waste; it has shown the difference that we can make just by performing these practices, which gives hope for the future of climate change.
Sources
Worldometer - COVID-19 country statistics
Our World in Data - COVID-19 case and death statistics
NASA Earth Observatory - Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in China report
CarbonBrief - CO2 emissions statistics
Fox Business - Reduction in emissions data and quotes
Scientific American - Coronavirus pandemic issue and statements