Today, humanity faces a serious threat that arises from the spread of the coronavirus, or COVID-19. The extremely contagious nature of the given pathogen preconditioned the need for an immediate response and severe isolation measures to stop the appearance of new patients and protect the health of individuals. The outbreak also stipulated significant changes in human behavior, such as working from home to avoid contacts. This solution became one of the factors that caused an overwhelming impact on the environment.
The modern world is characterized by a high level of pollution and substantial harm done to the environment. Human activity generates multiple pollutants that destroy nature and deteriorate the quality of air, water, and soil (Ouis, 2002). Thus, during the period of the COVID-19 outbreak, a dramatic reduction in nitrogen dioxide pollution can be observed (Bryson, n.d.). It is mainly associated with the limits that were introduced in the transportation industry, as vehicles are the major sources of this substance.
In Wuhan, the area affected by the coronavirus, an improvement of the environmental situation because of the quarantine measures can be observed today (Bryson, n.d.). It means that along with the threat to the health of people, COVID-19 causes a positive impact on the environment by making people reconsider their behaviors and activities.
In the modern world, transportation and vehicles are the major threats to the environment. People have to travel every day to go to their works and perform their daily activities (Elvladyman, 2019). In this regard, the effective response to the coronavirus outbreak, or isolation and reduction of movement, is one of the means that have always been proposed by activists as a possible solution to the existing issues. That is why COVID-19 has a positive impact on climate change and slows down its speed.
References
Bryson, J. (n.d.). The COVID-19 effect: Why coronavirus is eclipsing Thunberg on climate change. Web.
Elvladyman. (2019). Before the Flood full movie National Geographic [Video file]. Web.
Ouis, P. (2002). ‘Greening the Emirates’: the modern construction of nature in the United Arab Emirates. Cultural Geographies, 9, 334-347.