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If I told you that one of the best years, environmentally wise, that the world has had in the past decade was caused by a pandemic, would you believe me?
Or would you write me off as a typical, crazy conspiracy theorist? Well, as insane as it sounds, it’s the truth. With the emergence of COVID-19, many environmental effects have seemed to follow. In this article, I’m going to break down what effects the pandemic has made, and how we can maintain them!
Even though the pandemic caused a lot of bad nerves and isolation, the lockdown had some really surprising effects. For example, air quality has improved tremendously. Because nobody except essential workers were going out and using vehicles, fossil fuels weren’t burned as much. Which means not as much exhaust smoke being released into the air. On top of that, the restriction of air transport helped with this as well. It may not sound like a tremendous change, but the actual cause and effect is shocking. Cities like Los Angeles started to see their skyline for the first time in years. According to scientific findings from the U.S national library of medicine, air pollution has decreased by 50% in New York. with a city like New York, 50% is a huge figure.
Noise pollution has decreased as well. With oil drilling companies and industrial companies being shut down due to COVID, not as much noise pollution is being produced. In fact, noise pollution in Delhi, the capital of India, decreased by 40-50%. For those that don’t know the effects of noise pollution, noise pollution can make humans become prone to hearing if too much is produced. So, a decrease of that much to a city of 20 million people in Delhi is huge to a whole country.
Lastly is water pollution. Very rarely do people pay attention to how important the ocean and lakes are to humans and life. The ocean produces a lot of oxygen, resources, and even food. A recent problem that environmentalists and scientists have encountered has been that the water is becoming so polluted, that wildlife has started to die, lakes and rivers start to become unnaturally dirty, and the coral reefs have started to diminish. While everyone has been in lockdown, oceans, rivers, and lakes have started to clear up. Even endangered species have started to repopulate.
So, all of these things sound great, but unfortunately, they are short term solutions to a huge problem. Fortunately, keeping on a good track towards saving the earth is not impossible.
Although it’s impossible to copy the effects that came with lockdown immediately, there are still many ways we can take small steps towards helping. Like the basics of carpooling, using less water in showers, and recycling. Although it sounds too simple to be a true solution, it’s basically that simple. The little things go a long way, and it’s a good way to get people involved in the bigger picture.
Although Covid-19 brought a lot of bad in 2020, it also really showed how much we as people can physically change the world. It’s a long way to recover what we have already hurt, but if even a handful of people banded together to help make a change, it would make huge strides. You don’t need to be a scientist or a genius to make a change. Even though 2020 was a terrible year, we can make 2021 great. So, here’s to having a green thumb this year!
