COVID-19: It's Not All Bad Things
- Sydney
- May 6, 2020
- 3 min read
Image via CNN
I would like to start of this article by saying that I in no way want to minimize the horrible impact on society this pandemic has caused. My heart goes out to everyone who has been impacted in any way directly or indirectly by this pandemic, anyone who has lost a friend or family member, or who has a friend or family member who is battling it currently, stay strong for them. My heart also goes out to everyone on the front line putting themselves in danger to help society return to normal, what you are doing is incredible and you can never get enough appreciation for the risk you are putting yourself into. It's a scary time not knowing if your loved ones will catch this virus. It is normal to be afraid or discouraged, and to feel like everything is going wrong. This is a huge issue that should not be downsized whatsoever. The most important things for us to do are to stay home and social distance when out getting essential items, and to spread good news because many of us are feeling hopeless in this time. With that being said I decided I wanted to highlight some of the positive environmental things that have been happening while everyone is home.
Air Pollution and Carbon Usage is down majorly
With businesses, factories, and non-essential businesses are closing, and people not traveling nearly as much, the air pollution caused by these things has gone down majorly. A CNN Travel article states that "Delhi saw up to a 44% reduction in PM10 air pollution levels on the first day of its restrictions." Travels bans has stopped some flights which means that less carbon is being put into the air while planes fly. The coal and oil industries are also slowing down due to travel bans resulting in less carbon being put into the environment from that as well. Airborne particle levels has gone down quickly in Northern India over the time they have been in lockdown as well.
Nature is Returning
Many areas of nature that people haven't been able to see for years have cleared up. The Canals in Venice have cleared up due to them not being used and even animals such as swans and fish have returned. People who live near the Himalayan Mountains have been able to see the mountains for the first time in a long time. Wild boars are roaming the streets in Bergamo, Italy. Wildflowers in England are also going to flourish due to parks being non-essential and closed.
The Ozone Layer
NASA reported that the Arctic Ozone Layer depletion hit a record low this march. This isn't directly because of COVID-19 but it is some good news I thought I should include.
Conclusion
These are only a few of the positive things going on with the environment. There are lots of resources out there that also focus on positive news so if you feel like the news is all bad I recommend you go look at some of those. I have also included my sources below if you would like to look into any subject further.
I think all these things that are happening due to the lock down goes to show that we cause a lot of the world issues such as air pollution and carbon usage are our fault. I think going into our return back to normal we need to be more careful on what we do that impacts the environment. We still have time to reverse the climate issues we have caused, we just need to put in the effort. Either way, its nice to see good things happening.
Thanks so much for reading! I worked really hard on this article so it means the world to me that you took the time to read it! See you in the next one!
-Sydney
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Here's a few sources I used in writing this article as while as some information i heard on the news that I haven't been able to track down. If you come across an article that backs my information send it my way and I will add it to my citations! I would also like to add even though I am using news sources that some people believe lean towards one side over the other when reporting political news, the articles that I am using are not political, just reporting on nature and are non biased. Thanks!
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