Environmental Benefits of COVID-19
By Sonnet Gomes
State of War
Viruses and humanity have been in a “state-of-war” from the beginning of time. A variety of infectious diseases have been responsible for every pandemic in world history. We only need to remember our high school history books coverage of the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu. It is estimated that the Spanish Flu was responsible for more than 50,000,000 worldwide deaths. Behind all modern-day pandemics, the primary culprits have been viruses.
Coronaviruses are Well-Known
Coronaviruses are well-known to us. In fact, you probably are a unknowing host to millions of them at this very moment. Coronaviruses cause a variety of illnesses ranging from the common cold to severe and often deadly respiratory infections. This new strain, COVID-19, is short for coronavirus disease-2019. This novel coronavirus is responsible for the current global outbreak. Although coronaviruses are well-known this new strain has no cure or prevention. This fact has jeopardized millions of human beings worldwide, particularly the elderly or immune suppressed.
Origins of Outbreak
The outbreak started in November 2019 in the City of Wuhan, China. Wuhan is a city of over 11,000,000 people. A busy center of industry. The source of this novel strain is not known for certain, but a credible source has been identified. In China, there are many open markets where wild animals including rats and bats are butchered in proximity to vegetables, domestic meats and customers. The COVID-19 is thought to have started in one of these huge open markets. Bats are the primary transmission suspect. Wild animals, including bats have been regularly butchered and sold as meat in China. Bats are known carriers of multiple strains of coronaviruses.
Non-Symptomatic but Contagious
The COVID-19 is Zoonotic, meaning it can transfer from animal to man. Similar to SARS, it can stay in the host body undetected for up to 14 days. The difference seems to be that with COVID-19 the person may be non-symptomatic but contagious. SARS, on the other hand, is not communicable until patient develops symptoms. Both SARS and MERS were transmitted from the civet cat and camels, respectively. Thus, it is clear, the chain of infection often starts with a animal to man transfer. All wildlife trade in China, including bat meat, was banned in January 2020. This was a direct response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Coronavirus Map Expands
As of this writing, around 81,000 people have been infected in China. Out of those patients, the death toll is more than 3,100. Yet, many thousands are recovering. Italy, Iran, and South Korea now face the grim reality of a COVID-19 outbreak. Every day, new countries are added to the coronavirus map. The United States is now part of the pandemic. The World Health Organization has identified the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.
Environmental Impact of COVID-19 in China
After a prolonged period of denial, China moved to take drastic and aggressive measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. Drastic lockdown measures have stabilized the situation. China using police action halted almost every movement and activity in the region. These measures have brought some unexpected positive results for the environment. However, the economic losses have been severe.
Bad Reputation
China has a poor reputation for environmental action. It faced grave criticism during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, due to thick air pollution. The complaints have not diminished. Massive industrialization and state-backed negligence on environmental issues makes life difficult in China. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, many Chinese wore face masks on a daily basis because of poor air quality.
Harmful Gases
The recent countrywide shutdown of production and transportation has changed the situation. Current satellite imagery from NASA confirms this. Images show a significant reduction in Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2). This harmful gas is one of the major air pollutants after Carbon Monoxide. Now the air over China is visibly more clean and clear. Just take a look at the NASA and ESA images for confirmation of this phenomenon.
NASA Images
This week NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) published two images of western China, taken on different dates. The images were before and after the shutdown on 23 January 2020. The image before the closure is showing an alarming amount of NO2. In contrast, the plume of pollution was not visible in the late February image.
Low to no NO2
The NO2 is a noxious gas. It generates from motor vehicles. Thus, it is clear that the recent plummet of this gas was due to the nationwide shutdown of vehicle movement. The fewer vehicles on the road mean low-to-no NO2 in the air. Evidence of the reduction of pollution started in Wuhan and spread over the entire mainland China.
Lunar New Year
Typically all the businesses slow down during the Lunar New Year celebration. The celebration continues from 28 January to 9 February. Nevertheless, the recent reduction in air pollution is not related to only the celebration. Satellite images taken during last year’s Lunar New Year holidays were different from this year. The 2019 images show a significant amount of NO2 in the air in comparison to the 2020 images.
Coronavirus Effects
Fei Liu is an air quality researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He is also involved in this China monitoring project. Liu confirms, “this is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area from a specific event.” According to Liu and his colleagues, the most crucial takeaway is that the gas has not come back. The COVID-19 outbreak is cutting down on emission pollution. So far, due to continued lockdown there has been no uptick in the release of noxious gases.
Other Nations
Italy is second on the list of the most COVID-19 cases and related deaths. Italy is following the Chinese method of mitigation, using a nationwide shutdown. Italian officials have decided there is no other way to stop the disease spread. This decision halts the lives of millions of Italians. However, after the outbreak is past Italians will breathe cleaner air. ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel satellite monitors the air quality over Europe. Since January 2020, it recorded a significant drop in NO2, especially over northern Italy.
Italian Shutdown
Claus Zehner is the manager of this satellite monitoring mission at ESA. He said, “the reduction in emissions that we can see coincides with the lockdown in Italy.” Most of the people in Italy are staying at home. There are almost no commercial activities. Pollution emission has plummeted to a negligible amount. Countries like Iran, and South Korea will likely experience similar environmental outcomes. However, now there is no data available. As more countries shut commercial activities down we can assume that air pollution will decrease.
Environmental Enthusiasm
The disease initiated in Wuhan, China has spread to over 106 countries and killed thousands. No wonder people are thinking only evil of this epidemic. However, the COVID-19 pandemic side effects may do some real good for the environmental condition of China and the world. The recently published NASA satellite images of western China have been eye-opening. It is clear the world is enjoying reduced air pollution.
A Silver Lining
The NASA images act as vital pieces of evidence for the claim that vehicle generated pollution can be reduced. As of today, the global pandemic has resulted in 169,387 cases with 6,513 deaths. Yet, the silver lining is that a large portion of those infected are recovering. After all the hardship and tragedy from COVID-19, we can expect some clean and pollution-free air to breathe.
Is the COVID-19 pandemic helping the environment? For China and Italy it is a definite yes! To quote a famous Indian proverb, “Someone’s winter may bring someone’s disaster.”
