Covid-19 and our planet
Hey everyone!
I hope everyone is doing good and staying safe.
Today, we bring you a topic that has been all over the news and social media… the coronavirus. As we can all agree what is going on is terrible… but I believe it has some good with it too. Keep reading to find out how 🙂
The virus situation is very sad because many people have died, people are losing their jobs, some people don’t have food to eat but one good thing it has come with it. It forced us to slow down. To spend time at home, rest and relax, and stay in touch with our loved ones and appreciate nature so much more.
With people doing social distancing, not going to work and staying at home, the pollution (air, noise, waste) has slow down too. With few people outside (or almost none), everything is quieter and calmer for the animals, so they are coming out and exploring their homes and not be scared to encounter a human.
Us slowing down, it’s helping our planet, our plants, our animals and our ecosystems to breath and restore again.
Unfortunately, “it shouldn’t take a global pandemic to make positive steps towards healing the earth and allowing people to recognize all the damage humans are causing” (Ballagh, 2020).
According to The Atlantic, the virus is reducing seismic activity, reducing air pollution, oceans are quieter and with less waste (Ballagh, 2020), dolphins are being spotted in harbours, canals in Venice are cleaner, the temporary ban of corridas has spared the lives of a hundred Spanish bulls, and so many more (Franza, 2020).
One more positive point from this situation, according to NASA and the European Space Agency and their satellite images, it was detected a reduction in nitrogen dioxide emissions (NO2) (which come predominantly from the burning of fossil fuels) due to quarantine from January to February in China (Berge, 2020). It also showed a drastic reduction in Northern Italy, due to the limitations of mobility (Franza, 2020).
And due to the reduction in global air travel, as no one is travelling, it will contribute to a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and it’s believed to be the biggest reduction in the past century (Franza, 2020).
Unfortunately, the positive effects of this pandemic on local air quality and global climate will probably be temporary. The moment the economy starts again, and everyone is allowed to go back to work, everything will go back to normal.
But is that a “normal” that we want to go back to?
Our oceans are full of waste, animals are suffocating and dying because of that waste, species are getting extinct, humans are greedy and take more than what they need, our forests are disappearing…
Call me crazy, but I believe that everything happens for a reason.
And what’s happening now, it’s a wakeup call.
Mr. Rolfsmeier, a teacher from FLHS AP Environmental Science and Biology, says: “COVID-19 is showing what can happen when the amount of pollutants and human activities in general are limited. The environments and animals have benefited greatly from this lack of anthropogenic influence. The sad part is that this is not a realistic test of how things could be for our planet. We still need to have commerce, travel and development taking place for humans to continue to positively impact other humans. However this does show how things may be much better off for our planet if those movements and commerce were to rely on green energy that limits the emission of pollutants” (Ballagh, 2020).
You can help and start making a change. We only have one planet, only one place we call home, there’s no planet B. And our human activity is damaging and hurting our home. Coming together and making small changes like recycling, reducing the use of plastics, reducing the amount of meat we eat, and being conscientious about what we waste can make a big difference.
Ready to make a change and help save our home?
What do you think? Do you think due to this pandemic, the government and people will start caring more about our environment and our planet? What do you think should be our next step?
We inspire because we care
Love,
Bea & João
Source:
Ballagh, Ava. 2020. Covid-19 Means good things for planet earth. Crusader Chronicle. Source: https://www.crusaderchonicle.com/10631/community/covid-19-means-good-things-for-planet-earth/
Franza, L. 2020. Is Coronavirus good for our sick planet? Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI). ISSN 2532-6570
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