How Has COVID-19 Impacted the Environment?

A global event of the scale of the Coronavirus crisis will inevitably have an impact on the world. The changes have already become apparent- the waters in the canals of Venice run clear, and the skies over Delhi, India are a clear blue. With fewer people traveling, carbon emissions have greatly fallen (Henriques, "How"). In New York, pollution has nearly been cut in half thanks to Covid-19 prevention measures. Across China and Europe, carbon emissions and levels of other pollutants have dropped significantly. Unfortunately, these reductions do of course come at the cost of great loss of life and livelihoods (Henriques, "Will"). Additionally, there is no guarantee that the environmental benefits will have any kind of lasting impact.

Historically, when the environment has seen benefits following economic recessions, the effects have not lasted long enough to have a permanent impact (Henriques, "How"). Whether some small benefit can be retained will depend on how people act after most quarantine measures have ended (Henriques, "Will"). Fewer flights are one primary reason that carbon emissions have dropped, so if the world returns to business as usual then the situation will likely return to as it was (Henriques, "How"). However, cutting back on flights, even after quarantine restrictions are dropped, could potentially help some of the positive changes to last longer (Henriques, "Will").

Ultimately, though the environment may return to the state it was in before the world became quarantined, the changes that it has undergone demonstrate that it is possible for the environment to become healthy again, despite the damage that it has taken. Certainly, these environmental benefits are in no way worth the great toll that Covid-19 has taken on the world in both life and money. Despite that, it has been proven that with a concerted effort the world is more than capable of reducing carbon emissions to help the environment, which gives hope to the ideal that some day in the future it may be possible to take successful climate action.

Covid-19 has had specific impact on the environment in areas of our community. Many recycling programs have been halted or altered in order to be more safe. In the town of Hollis, recycling has stopped entirely due to coronavirus preventative measures. In Brookline, the town has stopped collecting plastic, since the coronavirus can live for a very long time on the material. These demonstrate that the quarantine does have some negative impacts on our environmental behaviors.

Henriques, Martha. “How Has Coronavirus Helped the Environment?” BBC Future, BBC, 23 Apr. 2020, www.bbc.com/future/article/20200422-how-has-coronavirus-helped-the-environment.

Henriques, Martha. “Will Covid-19 Have a Lasting Impact on the Environment?” BBC Future, BBC, 27 Mar. 2020, www.bbc.com/future/article/20200326-covid-19-the-impact-of-coronavirus-on-the-environment.