COVID Silver Lining: Clear Skies

Mother Earth Heals Herself? Pandemics, such as the ongoing SARS-Cov-2 outbreak, are nothing new for our planet and neither is the phenomenon of zoonotic spread of diseases (which transmit from animals to humans). So what is it that makes the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic a catalytic agent towards the ‘healing’ of the Earth? Bhavya Pandey examines. 

The Earth is 4.5 billion years old and has spent most of this time in healthy solitude. It may seem like humans have been around for a while, because six million years seems like a long time; in the overall timeline of the Earth, however, six million years is insignificant. Nonetheless, the six million years humans have been on Earth has allowed them to evolve, build tools, create civilizations, adapt to their environment, and become the planet-dominating species that they are today. 

Many of mankind's approaches to the Earth’s resources hold answers to the viral outbreaks that we have seen in the past few decades. Forests are wiped out for manufacture, agriculture and meat production, creating a huge loss of habitat. People and wild animals interact more leading to poaching bushmeat, sometimes in order to survive, sometimes in the archaic belief that eating certain animals heals us or gives us certain powers. David Quammen, author of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Pandemic, recently wrote in the New York Times: “We cut the trees; we kill the animals or cage them and send them to markets. We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it.” 

With COVID-19 pushing people to stay home, virtually slowing the economy to a standstill, researchers have noticed an unexpected side effect. From the re-emergence of wildlife in urban areas to bluer skies and cleaner air in China, signs of environmental recovery are obvious. 

News of animals leaving their sanctuary and walking around the localities have broadcasted by some television channels. According to one news report there has been a drop in seismic noise, the hum of vibrations on the planet's crust, due to less movement of vehicles and shutting down of factories. 

Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, several citizen science groups have begun to gather data. Macau’s annual City Nature Challenge has scaled down its objectives, asking participants to look at whatever they can spot within their apartment — a cockroach under the sink or a potted plant in the balcony. At the University of Washington, scientists have launched a community science programme, asking volunteers to monitor birds using the eBird app for 10 minutes, either in their backyard or in any local green space. Bird Count India has launched a Lockdown Birding Challenge, asking people to observe birds in their backyard for 15 minutes, twice a day, using eBird to upload the data. Most obviously, they seek to gather data about the impact of the lockdown and the reduced human disturbance on bird, insect and animal activity. 

Second, they hope to educate people about nature in their backyard, helping families come together for moments with nature as they spot elements of nature that fascinate them. Finally, it is about mental health. In these stressful times, watching and listening to nature can help one stabilise and center themselves during these tough times. 

The national capital region — which, on average, sees most of the days in a year in the poor to severe category on the national Air Quality Index — has witnessed a miraculous, yet impeccable record of healthy air. With the lockdown in effect, and construction, industrial and vehicular activity ceased, the capital has been experiencing cleaner air and bluer skies. Barring a single day - the 5th of April, when overenthusiastic supporters of the Prime Minister took his call to light lamps in solidarity with the front-line workers during the pandemic, rather aggressively and ended up bursting firecrackers; the AQI has been below 30, on most days. 

The Central Board of Pollution Control pointed out that it registered whopping reductions in Particulate Matter (PM) 10 levels (-44 per cent), PM 2.5 (-34 per cent) and Nitrogen Oxide (-51 per cent) during the first week of the nation-wide lockdown. The following week, saw a 71 per cent plunge in all these indicators. It further said that more than eighty five Indian cities are breathing cleaner air due to the lockdown. 

A recent (and fact-based) WhatsApp forward also revealed that thanks to clear skies, one could now, for the first time, view the foothills of the Himalayas in neighbouring Himachal from Jalandhar in Punjab. 

As highlighted by Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor, initial research by Harvard’s T H Chan School of Public Health has suggested that there could be a correlation between air pollution and the lethality of COVID-19. Through their findings, based on data from nearly 3,000 counties in the United States, the researchers have pointed out that a marginal increase in long-term exposure to PM 2.5 could contribute to a higher fatality rate among those affected with coronavirus. The study showed that counties that registered on average as little as one microgram per cubic metre of PM 2.5 more than their counterparts had a COVID fatality rate that was 15 per cent higher. 

Satellite images released by NASA and the European Space Agency show a dramatic reduction in nitrogen dioxide emissions — those released by vehicles, power plants and industrial facilities — in major Chinese cities between January and February. The visible cloud of toxic gas hanging over industrial powerhouses almost disappeared. A similar pattern has emerged with carbon dioxide (CO2) — released by burning fossil fuels such as coal. From February 3 to March 1, CO2 emissions were down by at least 25% because of the measures to contain the coronavirus, according to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), an air pollution research organization. As the world’s biggest polluter, China contributes 30% of the world’s CO2 emissions annually, so the impact of this kind of drop is huge, even over a short period. 

Yet, this discovery has made some eager to point fingers: “See, humans are the real virus!” However, what this pandemic shows us shouldn’t be the inherent environmental harm humanity causes. Instead, it shows just how quickly, if we were to change and adopt sustainable practices, we would see the effects. Scientists from Denmark’s Aarhus University pointed out that regions in that part of that country, which faced high levels of air pollution, also registered the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths (12 per cent versus 4.5 per cent in the southern part). This trajectory mirrors a 2003 study by the University of California which found that the impact of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China was more fatal in parts of the country that suffered from poor air quality. 

Even before the COVID pandemic, outdoor air pollution was linked to the deaths of as many as nine million people each year. 

This comes as a matter of worry for all of us who live in regions where the air quality has perennially remained poor - such as the National Capital. Severe exposure to polluted air inevitably implies that most of us have gradually developed weaker respiratory systems and poor immunities, owing to the onset of dust and pollen induced allergies, that would make us more vulnerable to a virus like COVID-19. 

Some environmentalists said when the outbreak subsides, we may see multinationals and global economies pacing for a faster recovery, hence it may produce more greenhouse gases than before in a short time. 

Many countries will not be able to keep up with the Paris agreement pledges to reduce carbon emissions. But we should seize the opportunity to try and find a way to drive the economy forward without once again driving our air pollution levels through the roof. In a country as diverse and stratified as ours, the crises that we are required to address daily are man and often, some will have to take priority over others. But ultimately we must recognise that toxic air affects us all, no matter which part of the country we come from, what political and ideological affiliations we may have, or what socio-economic class we find ourselves in. 

While the Montreal Protocol was signed by various nations in 1987 in order to minimise the use of ozone-depleting substances, any improvements were a long time coming. Now, a new study by the UN shows that the Montreal Protocol has indeed had its desired effect as the depletion of the ozone layer has reduced substantially and has helped repair itself. And with most planes grounded and most cars parked thanks to the lockdown in large parts of the world, the regeneration is sure to accelerate. 

A number of researchers today think that it is actually humanity’s destruction of biodiversity that creates the conditions for new viruses and diseases like COVID-19, the viral disease that 

emerged in China, to arise—with profound health and economic impacts in rich and poor countries alike. In fact, a new discipline, planetary health, is emerging that focuses on the increasingly visible connections among the well-being of humans, other living things and entire ecosystems. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that three-quarters of “new or emerging” diseases that infect humans originate in nonhuman animals. These zoonotic diseases are linked to environmental change and human behavior. The disruption of pristine forests driven by logging, mining, road building through remote places, rapid urbanization and population growth is bringing people into closer contact with animal species they may never have been near before. According to Professor Kate Jones, of London’s UCL, this is “a hidden cost of human economic development. There are just so many more of us, in every environment. We are going into largely undisturbed places and being exposed more and more. We are creating habitats where viruses are transmitted more easily, and then we are surprised that we have new ones.” Professor Jones advocates that change must come from all countries, “We must think about global biosecurity, find the weak points and bolster the provision of health care in developing countries. Otherwise we can expect more of the same,” she says. 

Just as Harini Nagendran, Professor of sustainability at Azim Premji University, and co-author of Cities and Canopies: Trees in Indian Cities says: 

Unless this period of social distancing leads to a fundamental requestioning of our ways of living and working, consumption and leisure, unless we can engineer a fundamental cultural shift, tales of the world healing itself will remain just that — dreamy tales. 

Featured Image Credits: Times of India

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This piece is an award-winning essay that the author wrote for a competition organised by a Jawaharlal Nehru University associate entity. The author is a student of Economics at the University of Delhi and writes, edits for a student-run newspaper and collegiate level magazines. She can have endless conversations about the internet and food and loves to get constructive criticism about her writing.