Credit: CC0 Public Domain
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the globe in various sectors, from health to economy and from education to tourism. However, one aspect of the pandemic that is rarely discussed in the limelight is its impact on the environment. How has our planet changed since the start of the pandemic? Amid the many unprecedented effects COVID-19 has brought on our daily lives, this pandemic has allowed us to better understand the risks posed by environmental pollution.
Many of the measures taken to reduce the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have had significant consequences on the environment and climate, both positive and detrimental. Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a huge socio-economic disruption around the globe, which directly and indirectly affects the environment in ways such as improving air and water quality, reducing the amount of noise pollution, and ecological restoration. On the other hand, there is also the burden faced due to increased personal protective equipment (PPE) and haphazard disposal. Let's cover these outcomes one by one, shall we?
It goes without saying that air pollution has had serious ramifications on air quality and human health around the world. On the bright side, many urban areas are experiencing substantial improvements in air quality as many regions are implementing physical distancing policies and declining social and economic activities. The measures taken to contain the SARS-CoV-2 virus around the world have forced the shutdown of most industrial activities, transportation, and businesses, leading to a sudden drop in greenhouse gas emissions. For example, in China, there was an estimated 50% reduction of gases such as nitrous oxide (N₂O) and carbon monoxide (CO) due to the shutdown of many heavy industries (Caine, 2020).
Evolution of NO₂ concentrations in China before and after the pandemic. (Credit:)
Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), which is largely generated from fuel combustion, is one of the primary stimuli of air quality degradation and is directly associated with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The efforts made to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 have seen an indirect reduction of NO₂ concentrations in many countries, including China, Spain, Germany, France, and Italy. With the help of satellite imagery and atmospheric monitors, these air quality results can also be seen through space! Climate experts predict that these greenhouse gas emissions could drop to levels never before seen since World War II (Global Carbon Project, 2020).
Evolution of NO₂ concentrations in parts of western Europe. (Credit:)
Now, let's take a dive into the waters. Water pollution is a very common phenomenon in developing countries, where domestic and industrial waste is frequently disposed of in irrigation systems without proper treatment. Many major industrial sources of water-based pollution have diminished or completely stopped due to lockdowns. For example, in India, a significantly higher level of water purity was recorded in the Ganges River. The river's physicochemical parameters, including pH, electric conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and total coliform, were found to meet India's drinking water quality standard, and 27 out of the river's 36 monitoring stations managed to meet the standard quality requirements.
A view of clearer waters in Venice as a result of less motorboat traffic was taken on 18 March 2020. (Credit: Andrea Pottaro, Getty Images)
A non-industrial example goes back to the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Italy last March. Venice's then murky and dark waterways suddenly became clearer as the canals had less boat traffic than usual and because of the movement restrictions for the residents.
Moreover, due to imposed bans on public gatherings, the number of tourists and water activities were reduced in many places. Marine transportation has also drastically dropped, allowing for less CO₂ emissions and reduced marine pollution worldwide.
Credit: The New York Times
Noise pollution is another environmental problem that has been indirectly reduced during the pandemic. Zambrano-Monserrate et al. define environmental noise as "an unwanted sound that could be generated by anthropogenic activities (for instance, industrial or commercial activities), the transit of engine vehicles, and melodies at high volume." (2020). These elevated levels of noise may cause negative effects on physiological health as well as cardiovascular disorders, hypertension, and sleep deprivation. Outside of human health, environmental noise can also alter the natural living conditions of ecosystems. However, because of the quarantine regulations imposed by most governments, commercial activities have stopped almost entirely, and private, and public transportations are used less.
Despite the positive outcomes, however, we cannot ignore the negative effects that COVID-19 has brought on the environment. The most prominent of these is arguably the surge of biomedical waste. Each day, the COVID-19 pandemic is estimated to generate up to 7,200 tons of medical waste, much of which consists of disposable masks (Trafton, 2021). Hospitals in Wuhan, China, where the SARS-CoV-2 virus was first spotted, have produced an average of 240 metric tons of medical waste per day, almost five times their previous average of fewer than 50 tons. Most medical waste generated during the pandemic typically comes from COVID-19 sample collections, patient diagnosis and treatment, and disinfection purposes.
Improper treatment of medical waste can pose a major threat to both public health and the environment. As medical waste mostly contains plastic, it can release known carcinogens, and ash remains in the atmosphere when burned in the open air. In a similar fashion, chemicals like mercury that are contained in a medical waste can accumulate in the environment and contaminate the human food supply. Furthermore, a report by van Dormalen et al. (2020) explains that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can exist a day on cardboard and up to 3 days on plastics and stainless steel. Segregating hazardous waste from domestic and non-hazardous waste can drastically reduce the amount of waste that requires specialized treatment.
Although the environmental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are mostly short-term, it is important to take the right actions to sustain the benefits for the long term and reduce the damaging impacts. There are many simple steps we can take to reduce our own carbon footprint during quarantine, and it all starts from changing the behavior of our daily lives. Start optimizing your use of resources; switch off or unplug electronic devices when not used, refuse single-use plastic, avoid processed foods and consume more locally-grown plants, apply the 3R principles (reduce, reuse, recycle), create your own compost out of food waste and use bicycles or walk when traveling short distances. Reduce and rethink your daily energy consumption, and If you can, consider shifting to renewable, clean energy sources!
Remember to always be a part of the solution and not the pollution. Stay safe and healthy, everyone! :)
Works Cited:
Alverson, K. 2020. How COVID-19 Pandemic is Changing Waste Management. https://healthmanagement.org/c/healthmanagement/issuearticle/how-covid-19-pandemic-is-changing-waste-management. Accessed 23 July 2021.
Caine, P. 2020. Environmental Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns Seen from Space. https://news.wttw.com/2020/04/02/environmental-impact-covid-19-lockdowns-seen-space. Accessed 26 July 2021.
Hamwey, R. 2020. Environmental impacts of coronavirus crisis, challenges ahead. https://unctad.org/es/node/2379. UNCTAD. Accessed 26 July 2021.
Melillo, G. 2021. COVID-19: An Opportunity to Assess Global Air Quality and Its Impact on Health. AJMC. https://www.ajmc.com/view/covid-19-an-opportunity-to-assess-global-air-quality-and-its-impact-on-health. Accessed 26 July 2021.
OECD. 2021. The long-term environmental implications of COVID-19. https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/the-long-term-environmental-implications-of-covid-19-4b7a9937/
Rume, T. and and Didar-Ul Islam S.M. 2020. Environmental effects of COVID-19 pandemic and potential strategies of sustainability. Heliyon. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7498239/. Accessed 23 July 2021.
Trafton, A. 2021. The environmental toll of disposable masks. MIT News Office. https://news.mit.edu/2021/covid-masks-environment-0720. Accessed 23 July 2021.
UNCTAD. 2020. Growing plastic pollution in wake of COVID-19: How trade policy can help. https://unctad.org/es/node/3082. Accessed 26 July 2021.
van Dormalen, N. et al. 2020. Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1. N Engl J Med. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7121658/?report=reader. Accessed 26 July 2021
Zambrano-Monserrate, M. et al. 2020. Indirect effects of COVID-19 on the environment. Sci Total Environ. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7169883/?report=reader#__ffn_sectitle. Accessed 24 July 2021.
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