Is the Planet Fighting Back?
Amidst the madness, heartbreak, and outpouring of data and statistics about the toll COVID-19 has had on humankind across the globe, data also shows a drop in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions across continents. Four weeks seems a lifetime, and a lifestyle, ago where we shook unwashed hands and hugged; now we wave at someone’s head and shoulders while fighting the distraction of seeing our own image in the corner on Zoom.
It is difficult to comprehend the magnitude of the social and economic impact of the virus, and near impossible to fully process the tragic death toll and startling unemployment rates. While we dissect the changes that will be lasting versus short-lived, we can also contemplate the potentially permanent (or ultimately fleeting) effect of COVID-19 on the planet.
With lockdowns in place, businesses shuttered, flights cancelled, and travel restrictions buckling the larger transportation industry, there is one winner.
In the northern hemisphere it’s almost boastful for the earth to burst into color, absorb the fresh air, and smother us in pollen while we worry for our elders, neighbors, healthcare workers, and livelihoods under attack from an invisible assailant.
Although the restrictions put into place aim to stifle the spread of COVID-19, there are other clear impacts, especially as we analyze data showing falling carbon emissions and pollution levels. According to BBC, if we compare to this time last year, levels of pollution in New York have “reduced by nearly 50% because of measures to contain the virus.”[1]
On the other side of the world, emissions fell 25% in China, and the use of coal has significantly dropped.
Meanwhile, we see emissions also reducing in Europe: “satellite images show nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions fading away over northern Italy. Nitrogen dioxide is a byproduct of burning fossil fuels and causes respiratory problems.[2] A similar story is playing out in Spain and the UK.”[3]
Digital World Steps Up
On the digital side, our society moves even further into the digital workspace and we find the limits of our current remote, technological platforms. In New York, a start-up was able to push a virus-tracking platform online in a few days without writing a line of computer code.[4] Unconstrained by typical, competing priorities, innovators speed up the pace of digital technology with the singular focus of stopping the spread of the virus and saving lives. If there is anything positive we can draw upon from this healthcare crisis and time of monumental change, it may be in the digital technology and environmental health spaces.
Born out of necessity, advancements in digital platforms that enable remote work are proving to be the (at-least-temporary) saving grace that is precariously propping up un-shuttered businesses operating during the pandemic.
Thinking of lasting effects, we may be moving to work-from-home as the norm rather than the exception. Working people and students are being forced to test our professional and social capacity for maintaining productivity in a remote setting, and we may emerge more digitally proficient and tolerable than we were before.
Future of Environmental and Human Health
And when we do put this dark time behind us, the planet may benefit from our new boundaries and societal norms, or it may be a blip on the screen. Will any environmental impacts survive in a sustainable way when we re-emerge from our sheltering-in-place? Will we override any environmental benefits with the explosion of pent-up social and economic activity?
We may already know the short-term answer. In China, coal consumption and NO2 pollution have already returned to “regular” levels. But we have seen what we are capable of, or at least have a clearer perspective on the noticeable impact our activity has on the air we breathe and the water we drink.
Temporary Adaptations Become Post-COVID-19 Action Items
We can see the impact just a few weeks of reduced human activity has on the environment. With businesses investing in work-from-home digital platforms and workers adapting to the digital and social behaviors, it will be easier to work remotely 1, 2, or even 3 days per week, if not longer, following the crisis. Our society is adapting in many other ways as well: cooking at home more and relying less on dining out, stretching resources, discovering digital ways to connect with loved-ones, exploring new hobbies at home or within walking distance, and in general establishing a lower-impact lifestyle.
Even if we continue just a few of these changes post-crisis, the aggregate impact on the environment would be dramatic. Exponentially fewer cars[5] on the road as we connect digitally for work and social purposes, cook at home more frequently than dining out, and work out from home or go for a run instead of driving to the gym.
In many cases, digital tech makes these behavioral shifts not only possible, but all-the-more-likely going forward. We’ve tested digital workouts, followed online tutorials to expand our cooking skills, and stretched productivity on our remote work platforms.
Keeping up some if not most of these adaptations will not only improve the planet’s health, but cleaner air will be a positive human health development, particularly for those susceptible to COVID viruses due to respiratory and cardiovascular conditions.
As a side note, people with respiratory conditions have shown worse symptoms due to COVID-19; such conditions are aggravated by air quality.
In a Time article, the acting secretary general of the European Public Health Alliance is quoted: “The damage is already done […] Years of breathing in dirty air from traffic fumes and other sources will have weakened the health of all those who are now embroiled in a life or death fight.”[6]
For companies that can afford work-from-home policies post COVID-19 (or even cut costs via remote work), this may be an economical decision with a net positive environmental consequence, especially if businesses can build on this cost-cutting by reducing office resources and electricity consumption.
Not the First Time We’ve Been Confronted
Finally, I do not mean to suggest that the earth has gone gently into the night until now. Climate change has spurred more natural fury than we anticipated, and whether humans agree or not on how directly linked our actions are to natural disasters, our population growth soars, pollution ramps up, and we devote more resources year over year to battling wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods.
While we worry about a future of uncontrollable artificial intelligence or the threat of automation, it is worthwhile to remember that this unprecedented threat to humankind was born from the natural world.
In the end, at risk of dipping a toe into science fiction, we have for years talked about the impact humans have on the planet. Maybe we’ve been charting our future as if unrivaled, ignoring and underestimating Earth’s potential to fight back.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200326-covid-19-the-impact-of-coronavirus-on-the-environment
[2] https://time.com/5812741/air-pollution-coronavirus/
[3] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200326-covid-19-the-impact-of-coronavirus-on-the-environment
[4] https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/01/new-microsoft-google-amazon-cloud-battle-over-world-without-code.html
[5] According to the EPA, transportation accounted for 29% of total U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions by economic sector in 2017. “The majority of greenhouse gas emissions from transportation are carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions resulting from the combustion of petroleum-based products, like gasoline, in internal combustion engines. The largest sources of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions include passenger cars and light-duty tricks, including sport utility vehicles, pickup tricks, and minivans.” https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions
