Here’s How The Coronavirus Lockdown Is Affecting The Environment (In A Positive Way)

While we are taking every possible step to tackle the Coronavirus outbreak, you’ll be surprised to know that this pandemic is affecting our environment in ways that will startle you. By Kumar Shree

Wuhan Is Free Of Its Pollution Woes

 

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A post shared by | MaisPlaneta / PlusPlanet ™ (@iloveplaneta) on Mar 14, 2020 at 6:13am PDT

Wuhan, the epicentre of the Coronavirus outbreak is also a major industrial hub. When things were normal, Wuhan had a hazardous air-pollution level, which has now surprisingly come down by 21.5 per cent according to data revealed by China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment. If you think it’s just because of the lockdown, well, that’s not entirely true. Many other factors have collectively improved the situation for Wuhan. Some of these are reduced production of oil and steel in the local factories and less-frequent domestic flights flying above the city. Not all the factories, however, have closed operations. The mask production factories in Wuhan have been running on overdrive ever since the situation has erupted. Even the satellite images shared by European Space Agency and NASA establish that the nitrogen dioxide pollution has come down significantly in the region.

Venice Has Clear Canals

 

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Reduced tourism in Venice has allowed nature to take control and the water in the canals have self-cleansed to reveal the floating fish inside, who are otherwise not visible.

Other Places

Many other regions are also observing significant environmental benefits as a consequence of the Coronavirus outbreak. For instance, researchers in New York registered a 50 per cent decline in carbon monoxide levels, which is caused due to car emissions. The researchers at Columbia University also established that the traffic levels in the city have come down by around 35 per cent as compared to the data a year ago.

While this situation is proving to be good for the environment, researchers and scientists are also worried that these numbers could rapidly spike up once things restore to normal. That is something we would certainly not want, however, only time will tell what lies in the future for us.

Related: This Is How Italy Is Keeping Positive During Coronavirus, And What We Can Learn…