Coronavirus and its Impact on the Environment

2020 is the year that COVID-19 hit the entire world. The year 2020 will forever be the year in history books as the year when human activity paused. The Coronavirus introduced itself in December of 2019 in Wuhan and since then has been spreading and causing mayhem worldwide. Due to the virus, many people are dealing with loss of employment and sadly, the sickness and death of loved ones. The impact of this pandemic has caused substantial harm to the daily lives of human being. Although the pandemic has substantially affected the freedom of the world, the virus has had a positive impact on one unknown source, the environment.

Without human interactions, many natural habitats have returned to their natural self. Worldwide, pictures have been displayed showing clear skies, canals and happy animals. Within a few months without human interaction the world has shown how beautiful and exciting it once was. The impact that humans have had on the environment has been greatly negative and it shows through the way the world has been flourishing without that interaction. In addition, to the clear skies and canals, carbon emissions have also decreased. China’s C02 emissions were temporarily reduced by 25% since the virus has affected the country. Air pollution has also decreased.

The reason why the virus has caused this positive change is because most people are isolated and homebound. In many cities in the United States, only workers who are deemed essential are allowed to leave their homes. People are not leaving their homes unless they are essential or going to the grocery store. There are less planes are in the sky and less people are driving on a daily basis. The lack of gas and coal emissions have made a positive impact on the environment. More people are waking up and smelling the fresh air instead of filling the world with gaseous air.

What exactly does this positive change mean for the future of the environment? One thing for certain, it does directly prove that humans have had a big hand in destroying the environment and its natural habitat. This also means that we are going to do a whole lot more when everyone come out of isolation. Everyone needs to create more proactive measures to ensure that we protect the environment. However, there are predictions that after isolation there will be an increase to negative human interaction with the world. The prediction is that everyone will double the amount of harm that they have caused.

What can we do to ensure a positive outcome on the environment and continue this positive turn? This pandemic is not going to last forever. When everyone emerges from isolation, they are going to start interacting with the environment again. We need to start putting in procedures to help increase the positivity that has been emitted. One possible solution will be to decrease human footprint on the environment. There is no need for everyone to drive a car everywhere. We can invest more into electric cars if we are to continue to drive at the current rate. In addition, another solution could be to limit the amount of tourism in rivers and canals. It is possible for humans to interact with the rivers and lakes and not harm the ecosystem. However, with so many more people on earth than have been in the past 100 years, the amount of people interacting with the ecosystem is extremely harmful. Less human interaction could possibly decrease this harm. The final solution could be to create a worldwide pact that would limit the human footprint in the environment. The implementation of these changes could help return the earth to its once peaceful nature.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200326-covid-19-the-impact-of-coronavirus-on-the-environment

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51944780

https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-coronavirus-has-temporarily-reduced-chinas-co2-emissions-by-a-quarter

https://www.dw.com/en/short-term-positive-effects-of-the-coronavirus-on-the-environment/av-53007913

https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/04/1061082

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/opinion/letters/coronavirus-climate.html

Written by Rebecca Striplet, EELJ Associate Editor