How Covid-19 will, and won’t, help the environment
From the catastrophic Australian bushfires to the rapid global spread of Covid-19, 2020 will be a year to remember for all the wrong reasons. However according to recent studies, there may be a silver lining on the horizon—it turns out that forcing the world’s population to self-isolate may be a turn-up for the books in regard to climate change. Here are some reasons why Coronavirus may help the environment and how it might hurt it.
Better air quality
From Wuhan to Milan, there has been a substantial drop in air pollution as a direct result of Coronavirus. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is produced when fossil fuels including coal, natural gas etc. are burned—it is a pollutant gas, which when breathed in high concentration can irritate the human respiratory system and cause asthma. However, as a result of this global pandemic, NO2 levels over cities are falling. Having the global population self-isolate has meant less pollution from cars, trucks and buses as well as power plants and factories as most industrial activity grinding to a halt.
Fewer carbon emissions
At the start of the pandemic, when the world received instruction to avoid unnecessary travel, the restriction in movement led to a nosedive in flying. These rules have since escalated to the closing of borders and travel bans, meaning global conferences have been cancelled, events postponed and more people than ever working from home. Air travel is considered one of the main pollutants of planet-heating gas carbon dioxide (CO2), so the tens of thousands of flights cancelled will likely result in a drop in carbon emissions.
Clearer waters
The reduction in travel and thus tourism has resulted in clearer waters—most evident in Venice’s famous canals. An article in Newsweek, entitled Coronavirus is having a major impact on the environment, suggests that while the lower numbers of tourists and commuting workers may be contributing to water quality due to the reduction of sewage discharges into the canals, the clear water is likely due to the unprecedented lack of boats, which usually stir up sediment.
A surge in urban wildlife
With humans safely behind doors, wildlife is once again re-emerging in urban areas. Recent viral videos of this phenomenon include the monkeys in Thailand—having become accustomed to tourists feeding them, they are now rampaging through cities looking for scraps. The famous Nara deer, which are also usually fed by tourists, were seen wandering the streets in Japan.
Increase in waste
While the world is understandably focused on tackling the growing public health crisis, it is likely that environmental and recycling considerations will be put on the back burner as populations focus on health and safety. Single-use safety equipment such as masks and rubber gloves will likely contribute to the growing mass of waste already filling our planet. An article in the Washington Post entitled Coronavirus could halt the world’s emissions growth. Not that we should feel good about that claims that “in the city of Wuhan, the volume of medical waste is reported to have quadrupled to more than 200 tons a day.”
A note of caution
With the economy grinding to a halt, stocks falling and many losing their jobs and income, it seems certain we’re heading into a global recession. As a result, depending on how countries choose to reignite the economy, emissions may actually surge rapidly when the dust settles. According to a BBC news article entitled Coronavirus: Air pollution and CO2 fall rapidly as virus spreads, carbon emissions shot up by 5% after the global financial crash in 2009, as a result of stimulus spending that boosted fossil fuel use. Unfortunately, history has shown that when an economy crashes, there’s little to no money for environmentalism.