How COVID-19 had inexpected positives for ecosystems and the environment
It has now been over three months since the coronavirus brought the world to a screeching halt. College campuses were emptied, concert venues were vacant and normally packed streets look like ghost towns. While economies around the world have suffered and will likely continue to suffer until the pandemic subsidies and the world can resume their normal daily lives again. We have seen over-hyped drugs hailed as viable treatment options, be shut down by the medical community. Fake news has made it nearly impossible for average Americans to decipher fact from fiction, thus distorting reality. However, there might be a silver lining to all of this madness: The environment is recovering due to the decline in human activity when it comes to moving around; whether that is via airplane or car, humans are staying put for the most part.
As stay at home orders have been put in place and extended, people have traveled significantly less. With commercial jets burning fossil fuels in the atmosphere, fewer flights over America translates to fewer emissions from those jets. The same logic can be applied to vehicles. When people are no longer taking their daily commute to work, they are sending fewer carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Even as many states begin a phased reopening, Americans are less inclined to travel as the threat of getting the virus is still a very real possibility in some places across America. The airline industry is feeling the effects of the pandemic particularly hard in the United States because domestic air travel is down 40 percent, according to Venngage.
The United States is not the only nation that is grappling with the reality that is less travel. Since March, Venngage also states that Europe has seen 47 million fewer air passengers than they typically would during this time of year. A positive takeaway from the lessened air travel is the fact that the levels of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere have fallen by significant levels in many areas. Northern Italy has seen a ten percent decrease, while Madrid has seen a 75 percent decrease in its nitrogen dioxide emissions.
Air travel is not the only mode of transportation that slowed to a crawl. For two of the major hotspots in the United States, Seattle, and New York City, carbon emissions fell significantly. In New York, carbon emissions fell by 50 percent according to Venngage, which is a significant decrease in a city of almost 8.4 million. Commuters on the west coast in Seattle spent 41 percent less time in significant traffic which has also led to improved air quality.
Across the world in China, the lives of over 4,000 kids under the age of five may have been saved. Due to the fact that carbon emissions fell by 24 percent, the air quality in China improved so much that the Chinese government can say that lives have been saved as a result. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, higher pollution rates that lead to extreme weather also lead to severe cases of asthma-especially in younger children.
The decline of greenhouse gases during the COVID-19 pandemic, will likely not last once the world returns to what will be our new normal. The improved climate around the world is attributed to the fact that economic activity, specifically the economy surrounding travel has been essentially stopped in its tracks.
The resumption of travel will undoubtedly lead to a rise in emissions of the different greenhouse gases. However, there are some trends that were accelerated as a direct consequence of the coronavirus pandemic. Before the world stopped spinning, the United States was heading in the right direction when it came to working from home. A lot of workers were starting to work from home more and more, and this trend was accelerated when offices shut down. With fewer workers traveling to a physical office, there is less traffic which leads to less carbon emissions into the air, offices are using less resources and there will be less of a strain on public transportation in large metro areas.
While there is no doubt that the economic toll that the coronavirus pandemic has put on the world will take years to fully recover, there have been some good things that will come out of this, and hopefully last beyond 2020. Our planet finds itself in a dire situation before this crippling virus, and it will still be in peril when we come out on the other side. However, when we see the effects of less human interference with the world, then maybe humans will start to be more conscious of the impact we have on the environment.
There is no perfect solution to reducing carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions, but looking for more efficient ways to fly, travel and exist in the world will certainly help the planet slowly begin to heal.
