What are positive effects of covid-19 lockdown on environment

Positive effects of COVID-19 on Environment

The coronavirus disease started in China in December 2019 and till now it spread in more than 200 countries.It has become a horrible dream for the people.Till now more than 3.9 million people are affected from this disease and more than 2 lac 70 thousand people died of this disease.It has affected the life of people badly and the whole world is forced to lock down in their homes.All the schools,colleges,universities,offices,markets,hotels,buses, trains ,aeroplanes,factories are closed.It has become a havoc for the whole world.

Apart from its worse effects on the life of the people.There are also positive effects of the COVID-19 which are as under:

1. Air pollution reduction

One of the main impacts of the coronavirus outbreak is  a significant reduction  in air pollution in many parts of the world.This happened specially in developed, developing and industrial countries like China and Europe.

Satellite images  from the NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) shows the largest reduction in air pollution around the world. Data from satellites like the ESA's Sentinel-5P Satellite showed a significant drop in polluting gases like nitrogen dioxide .

Nitrogen dioxide is mainly produced by car engines, power plants, and other industrial processes. It is believed to be the cause of serious  health problems, especially respiratory illnesses like asthma. One of the largest drops in the gas has been seen in Wuhan, Central China. The city remained under strict lockdown January to end of April. 

Most of the inhabitants of the world are confined to their homes and industry and travelling is effectively came to a halt. This resulted in a high drop in emissions of coal pollutants. 

2. The waters of Venice became clear and clean

Another positive effect on the environment from the corona virus has been seen in Venice, Italy. Due to reduction in number of tourists because of COVID-19, the waters in Venice's canals are cleaner than they have been in living memory.
As motorboats are grounded sediment churning and other water pollutants are dropped dramatically. In most areas of Venice, residents are amazed to see the clearness of  the water. The water is so clear that fish can be seen once again in the canals. 

3. Purification of air of New York

Due to the COVID-19 lock down  wether by official orders or by people themselves the air of many major cities is also become clear and one example is New York.
Researchers have found a 5-10%drop in air pollutants like carbon dioxide in New York. Methane emissions have also dropped significantly.
Traffic levels are also significantly reduced, with some estimating in the region of 35%. Carbon monoxide emissions have dropped about 50%.
“New York has had exceptionally high carbon monoxide numbers for the last year and a half,” said Columbia Professor Róisín Commane in an interview with the BBC. “And this is the cleanest I have ever seen it. It’s less than half of what we normally see in March.”

4.Reduction in Air Traffic

Another interesting effect on the environment is a significant reduction in air traffic. In places like Europe, air traffic has taken a serious nosedive.

This COVID-19 lockdown significantly improved air quality and reduced pollution in the skies above many countries of the world. With fewer planes buzzing around, issues associated with contrails and exhaust emissions are easing.
67 million less passengers flew in the first three months of 2020 to any year prior. Flight operators and policymakers are still trying to figure out how bad it will get over the next few months too.
Many airlines cancelled their flights as the virus spread around the world. For this reason, the IATA has predicted that the industry could be in a loss of $113 billion this year as a result. 

5.Reduction in coal combustion

Another impact on the environment as a result of coronavirus is the marked decrease in coal consumption. This contributed to the drop in air pollutants in places like China. 

This not only improved air quality in the regions affected, but also reduced the number of airborne pollutants like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides. 

China is, at present, one of the biggest producers and consumers of coal. It is estimated that they consumed around 59% of it for their energy needs in 2018. It helps run much of its industry and is also used as a domestic fuel source. 

China's major coal-fired power stations saw a 36% drop in consumption between February and March this year, according to CREA analysis of WIND data. 

6.Reduction in Energy Consumption

As more and more people are put under lock-down around the world, energy consumption profiles in buildings are being disrupted. With many people now working from home domestic energy consumption is predicted to have risen sharply.

It is predicted that there is an increase of  6 to 8% in the U.S. alone. Conversely, with fewer people in commercial or educational buildings, their energy consumption reduced as a quarter to 30%. 

This will ultimately save energy as the increase in domestic use is more than compensated by the larger drop in commercial and educational building uses. It also has the knock-on effect of reducing the consumption of polluting fuels in power stations as demand falls. 

7.Achievement of Paris Climate Accord goals

And finally, some experts are claiming that countries may be able to meet their Paris Climate Accord goals because of the pandemic. As sectors like transportation and production come to a remarkable reduction, the associated emissions caused by them also dropped as a consequence.

This could enable those affected countries to meet their 2015 Paris Climate Accord targets involuntarily. 

"The coronavirus is driving us towards the emission reduction targeted by international climate agreements such as the Paris Agreement. So, the outbreak has forced us to reduce emissions that we cannot meet [with the targets] normally," said Huseyin Toros, of Istanbul Technical University.

He also noted the improvement in air quality in other heavily-populated cities like Istanbul, Turkey. Levels of airborne PM 2.5 (particulate matter) have dropped by 36% from early to late-March.

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