Coronavirus- A blessing in disguise?
By Niharika Nautiyal
Since mid February 2020, Covid-19 or more commonly known as the novel Coronavirus has caught the collective attention of the entire planet. Originating from a meat market in Wuhan district of China, the virus spread faster than most experts could estimate and as of writing this essay more than 11 million people have been affected and 60,000 dead across more than 200 nations. This crisis comes as a shock since there was no prior information or preparedness for such a huge toll on the global healthcare system. And while this definitely is a dire situation for mankind, the same cannot be said for other life forms inhabiting the planet.
For years now, climate change has been a serious threat to humanity’s future. Multiple initiatives have been taken by countries through the Paris Agreement and UNIPCC, among others to face the severity of the future if extreme measures are not taken immediately to contain the damage of industrialisation, deforestation and over utilisation of resources. However, human greed is a hard thing to control and while surface level measures are being taken, the need of the hour is to not just minimize but bring emissions down to zero. Stopping such activities would halt countries’ economic growth, bring down their GDP and eventually affect the lifestyle of its people.
Coronavirus bought all countries to a very sudden halt. With quarantine imposed in almost every country, economies have slowed to do bare minimum. Factories, industries and transportation have come to a standstill massively bringing down CO2 emissions. With a majority of people working from home, there are hardly any vehicles on the street. Airlines, which are a major contributor to emissions have also suddenly gone on a downward spiral due to the lockdown imposed by almost all countries. Although these factors are having a negative effect on humans in terms of finances, education, businesses and general mobility ; nature seems to be breathing again. In China, emissions fell 25% at the start of the year as people were instructed to stay at home, factories shuttered and coal use fell by 40% at China’s six largest power plants since the last quarter of 2019. The proportion of days with “good quality air” was up 11.4% compared with the same time last year in 337 cities across China, according to its Ministry of Ecology and Environment. In Europe, satellite images show nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions fading away over northern Italy. Scientists say that by May, when CO2 emissions are at their peak thanks to the decomposition of leaves, the levels recorded might be the lowest since the financial crisis over a decade ago.
The question now is what will happen once the pandemic is over. With the crisis of climate change still looming overhead, Coronavirus has provided a temporary relief to the planet but experts are guessing that with the end of the pandemic, the economies will dive straight into restoring their condition. This could negate all the positive effects of the current time period. Or, as environmental scientists and advocates are hoping, the world economies will become more stringent with their emission and fossil fuel laws among other drastic measures. People should come out of this experience with a more sensitive understanding to their environment because even after this crisis is over, the bigger problem of global warming is still going to be humanity’s biggest challenge.
References
McGrath. M. (2020). Cornavirus :Air Pollution and CO2 fall rapidly as virus spreads. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51944780. [Accessed: 6/4/2020].
Henriques.M. (2020). Will Covid-19 have a lasting impact on the environment?. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200326-covid-19-the-impact-of-coronavirus-on-the-environment. [Accessed: 6/4/2020].
