Blessings in the disguise…. amidst Covid-19: Reduced Air Pollution

Summary

The COVID-19 lockdowns have led to a significant reduction in air pollution globally, offering a silver lining amidst the pandemic's challenges.

Abstract

The unprecedented lockdowns imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 have inadvertently resulted in a marked improvement in air quality around the world. Despite the tragic loss of life and economic hardships, the enforced shutdown of businesses and restrictions on movement have caused a dramatic decrease in air pollutants, particularly in urban areas known for high levels of pollution. The article highlights a reduction of up to 60% in deadly particulate matter (PM 2.5) compared to the previous year, with cities like Lahore, Pakistan, experiencing record low air quality index levels. This improvement in air quality index is attributed to the decline in human activities during the lockdown period. The author emphasizes the gravity of air pollution as a public health crisis, with the World Health Organization reporting 7 million deaths annually due to air pollution, significantly more than the recorded COVID-19 deaths. The article calls for continued responsible action to maintain this environmental gain and encourages readers to share their positive experiences during the lockdown.

Opinions

The author acknowledges the severe impact of COVID-19 on lives and economies but chooses to focus on the positive aspect of improved air quality due to lockdowns.
There is an underlying optimism that the pandemic's challenges can lead to a stronger and more united community in the future.
The author believes that the dramatic improvement in air quality is a result of the lockdown measures and reduced human activities.
The article suggests that the drop in air pollution should serve as a catalyst for individuals and communities to take proactive steps towards a greener environment and reduced pollution even after the lockdown ends.
It is implied that the public health crisis of air pollution, which causes far more deaths than COVID-19 annually, should be addressed with the same urgency as the pandemic.
The author encourages a collective effort to sustain the environmental benefits experienced during the lockdown and to contribute to a healthier planet for future generations.

Blessings in the disguise…. amidst Covid-19: Reduced Air Pollution

Amidst Covid-19 what we lost and what have we gained?

Unfortunately, we have lost many lives due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The total number of cases climbed to 3.8 Million as of today, with 1.2Million recovered and 264,128 died. Many people might have become sick and might not have been reported due to poor data collection in developing countries and other similar issues. Many people have lost their jobs, businessed got closed (at least momentarily) and list goes on. However, there must be some positive aspects that we need to talk about and give our community a ray of hope so that we could stand up again and stay united. I believe we would come out of this stronger and united than ever before.

In a series of blogs, I will talk about some of those positive aspects. This would be the first one in that series, and here I will focus on drop in air pollution due to forced closure of our businesses and lock down.

Air Quality Index Improved:

Covid-19 caused many problems but the lockdown that it brought to the world, has proven to be useful (just being positive) in many aspects including improving the air quality index worldwide. Lockdown led to air pollution drops in major cities around the world. The corona virus created the forced lockdown, which has resulted in air pollution falling down (consequently air quality index improved) by unprecedented margins.

According to an analysis, the major cities around the world which suffer from worst air pollution have witnessed reductions in deadly particulate matter (PM 2.5) by upto 60% as compared to the last year. The pollutant smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter is considered to be dangerous as it can affect your lungs by lodging deep into them and might infect other organs, potentially causing searious health issues and risks.

Lockdown led to air pollution drops in major cities around the world.

For example, in Lahore (Pakistan), the air quality index has come down to a record level of just 29 (April 1) compared to 500 (3 months ago, before the lockdown).

Air pollution is already a public health crisis, which affects the whole world, reportedly killing 7 million people each year (WHO). And by the way that is 26 times greater than the corona deaths until today: 264,109 (source).

During the initial three-week lockdown period, the number of hours rated as “unhealthy” in New Delhi dropped from 68% in 2019 to 17% in 2020.

Call to action:

It is great to know that worldwide pollution fell down due to our combined effort. The food for thought that I am going to leave for you is to think, how we could act responsibly after the lockdown is relaxed (and fully removed) and how we could motivate ourselves, family members, friends and everyone around us to contribute to green environment, reducing the pollution so that we all could stay healthy and handover a healthy and clean world to our next generations.

Last but not least, please do share your positives in the comments to this story. What were your positives during this lock down, what did you achieve etc? I am looking forward to learn from your experience sharings.

Let’s play our part. Let’s be environment and health friendly.

Thanks for Reading!

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