Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has inadvertently showcased the positive environmental impacts that can be achieved through collective action against climate change.

Abstract

The global response to the COVID-19 crisis, particularly the widespread lockdowns, has led to a significant reduction in pollution and an improvement in air and water quality. Notably, Venice's canals have cleared up, and wildlife has returned to areas from which they had previously been driven away by human activity. Similar environmental improvements have been observed in other parts of the world, such as India and Iran, where air quality has drastically improved. This temporary respite from human-induced environmental degradation has sparked discussions about the potential for long-term climate action. Experts and activists, including Jamie Margolin of Zero Hour, argue that the rapid mobilization seen during the pandemic demonstrates the capacity for swift change when faced with a crisis. They suggest that a similar urgency and coordinated effort are needed to address the climate crisis, proposing solutions such as job creation in renewable energy, worker transition programs, and reforestation projects. The 50th anniversary of Earth Day, celebrated online, serves as a reminder and a call to action for a healthier, more sustainable future.

Opinions

The clear waters of Venice and the return of wildlife are seen as a direct result of reduced human activity due to quarantine measures.
The phenomenon of cleaner environments during lockdowns is not just isolated to a few places but is a global occurrence, as evidenced by the visibility of the Himalayas in India and improved air quality in the United States.
Some animals venturing into human spaces may be out of hunger rather than environmental improvement, highlighting their dependence on human activities for food

Thanks to COVID-19, We Now Know it’s Not Too Late to Curb Climate Change

Quarantine-Era Photos Illustrate the Cleaner World Climate Action Could Create

Once upon a time, the residents of Venice, Italy, swam in the clear waters of their city’s lagoons.

In recent decades, however, mass tourism and increased, unregulated boat traffic has muddied the canals; a February 2019 report from the European Parliament called the water and air pollution in Venice “worrying.”

And then, suddenly, everything changed. With more than 14,000 cases of Coronavirus reported in Italy’s Veneto region, alone, and the country expanding lockdown orders to include its entire 116,347 square miles in March, the visitors and vessels in Venice have nearly vanished.

And, once again, the waters are translucent, as documented by professional and amateur photographers who’ve risked infection to capture what no one thought they’d see again: fish, dolphins, and swans.

As one Twitter user put it: “Boars in the middle of my hometown, dolphins in the port of Cagliari, ducks in the fountains in Rome, Venice canals have now clean water full of fishes. Air pollution dropped. Nature is reclaiming its spaces during quarantine in Italy.”

And Italy is far from alone.

In India, the government locked down the country at the end of March — and in less than a month Mother Earth responded.

India is home to 18% of the world’s population and 21 out of the 30 most polluted cities, and it’s been decades since anyone could see the Himalayan Mountains from within its borders.

Under quarantine, the view is picturesque.

“The phenomenon is made possible by a dramatic improvement in air quality in recent weeks, after industries shut down, cars came off the road and airlines canceled flights” (CNN).

Air pollution levels in Delhi dropped 44% on the first day of imposed restrictions.

In Iran, a single before-and-after view of a thoroughfare in the town of Ahvaz says it all.

Photographs: Seyed Madyar Shojaeifar/Redux

It’s even happening here in the United States, with the Washington Post calling improved air quality across the country “the silver lining to coronavirus lockdowns.”

In San Fransisco, California, coyotes have been spotted roaming on and around the infamously fog-enveloped Golden Gate Bridge.

In fact, animals are coming out of hiding all over the world, even creating a somewhat eery Planet of the Apes scene in Japan.

Unfortunately, in many cases this may be due to hunger, as animals have adapted over decades to overpopulation and the destruction of their habitats, relying on now-missing humans for sustenance.

And this begs the question: will COVID-19 ultimately have a positive effect on our natural environment?

At the very least, writes Beth Gardiner in National Geographic, “the temporary experience of cleaner air brought about by widespread shutdowns may offer lessons for the kind of world we want to build after the pandemic.”

Indeed, “For many experts, it is a glimpse of what the world might look like without fossil fuels,” says the Guardian’s global environment editor Jonathan Watts. “But hopes that humanity could emerge from this horror into a healthier, cleaner world will depend not on the short-term impact of the virus, but on the long-term political decisions made about what follows.”

Jamie Margolin, the teenage activist behind Zero Hour, was one of the first to see the response to COVID-19 through the lens of climate action.

In a March 18 op-ed for Teen Vogue, Jamie writes:

The way the world has been able to mobilize itself and shut down in the blink of an eye to properly respond to the coronavirus is proof that political leaders actually do have the ability to make rapid change happen if they want.

While noting that “the world COVID-19 response is not a perfect template for how the world must mobilize for climate justice” and her vision for climate action would not allow “many vulnerable people [to be] left behind” as they have during this pandemic, she says the response to Coronavirus “is showing us how people can mobilize and do their part when it is properly communicated to them that we are indeed in an urgent crisis.”

Not only that, right now we’re “simply trying to mitigate a disaster, while urgent climate response is not only mitigating disaster, but actively creating a better world.”

So, what would this entail?

For starters: “the rapid creation of jobs in new renewable fields, training workers to transition from fossil fuel jobs to clean energy jobs and mass reforestation projects.”

For anyone currently enjoying our cleaner water and air, even from afar, this new vision for a healthier future is probably sounding pretty appealing — and possibly even achievable.

Since Earth Day is being held online this year, there’s now no excuse for not getting involved.

Originally published at https://herald.news on March 17, 2020.