Positive effects of COVID-19 on our planet

COVID-19 Life has become the new normal life in 2020. What do I mean by that? Well, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world in the most unimaginable way. Industries stopped production, offices are closed or working online remotely, schools are shut in total it has impacted the normal life what Human Beings were having in all these years. People are dreaded to get out of homes and travel outside the home is now limited only to buy groceries or any other essential services.

To begin with, Air pollution has dropped significantly around the world. Air pollution is caused by several factors, the top factors being poisonous gas emissions from the factories, pollution caused by the smoke and fumes by the vehicles, deforestation created by man etc. Lockdown has helped in lowering the air pollution by significantly reducing gas and carbon emissions from the Industries. China being the world's largest manufacturer has hundreds of factories in it and therefore holds a large part of the blame for carbon emissions. Now due to lockdown, no one can go to the factories and therefore cannot produce carbon emissions. According to a carbon brief analysis, China has cut down 25% of Co₂ just with two months of lockdown. People are stuck at home and hence no travel is happening in any mode - common being car and bus but also even air travel is being paused now. Satellite imagery from NASA has been seen by many experts as “the largest scale experiment ever” in terms of reduction in emissions around the world. The International Energy Agency (IEA) adds onto saying that the COVID-19 pandemic could trigger the annual fall in Co₂ emissions. All of this has reduced the consumption of fossil fuels and carbon emissions immensely.

While on the topic of carbon emissions, let’s discuss the impact on the ozone layer. As you all might know the Ozone Layer is made up of the greenhouse gases to filter out the UV radiation from the sun, one of these gases is Co₂. Just like everything else, too much Co₂ can cause the ozone layer to trap too much heat and therefore deplete. Back in 1985, there was a hole in the Ozone layer placed over the Antarctic. Later in 2018, a report from the United Nations said that the infamous hole will be healed by the 2060s. Now due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some researchers believe that it could be completely healed by 2030. This is because most countries are on lockdown hence won’t be emitting carbon emissions causing the Ozone Layer to heal faster. This is a stupendous positive impact.

Let's discuss the impact of water pollution. Similar to air pollution, man causes issues to the water bodies too by pumping factory waste, throwing plastics and other non-degradable subjects to the water etc. Now due to the lockdown and stoppage of factory wastage to the water, most of the water bodies have cleaned themselves. There are fewer people using water transport to travel across the countries or for tourism. The movement of goods and services also has reduced significantly which reduces the negative impact on water bodies. There have been reports that the waters of Venice are becoming clear once again. Italy has the second-highest deaths out of all the countries due to COVID-19. Now although this is an appalling situation, it does mean terrific news for the waters of Venice. With tourists quarantined, the once cloudy canals have been transformed into the water which is clear enough to see fishes swim. Fishes or any type of marine life has never been seen in the Venetian Canals before as the water was usually too murky to be seen. To see that such gloomy water has transformed into visible water shows how COVID-19 has positively affected nature.

In conclusion, while COVID-19 may be a deadly virus for humans, it is helping the environment greatly. As stated before the COVID-19 has helped air pollution decrease significantly, waters to be cleaner and lastly the ozone layer to heal faster. All of this will help us reach the Paris Climate agreement faster. This also teaches human beings that if we love the mother planet and respect the other living organisms in the earth, we can continue living peacefully without any threat from the environment