For the past three months, the everyday life of people in almost all countries, as well as the world in general, have changed due to the rise of the coronavirus pandemic which originally begun in the city of Wuhan in mainland China.
According to the latest statistics, the number of cases of coronavirus infection around the globe has reached approximately 912,565. In total, over forty-five thousand people have lost their lives to it.
However, the good news is that doctors have also been reportedly able to treat 191,826 cases. In addition, the ongoing research and clinical trials on the infection have given the hope of a new vaccine in progress.
Although the infection has been controlled in the previous epic center, which was Wuhan, the World Health Organization reports that it will continue to spread at least till several more weeks.
Currently, the highest number of deaths and cases are present in Italy where over sixteen thousand people have been affected by the coronavirus infection but gradually the number of new cases is also going down at the same time.
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, a number of other changes have also been noticed by scientists and researchers.
For instance, regardless of how the pandemic has affected lives and is responsible for thousands of deaths, it has significantly improved the environment. So, here’s a little Wednesday wisdom – maybe the virus is a blessing in disguise for the environment, at least.
The preventive measures taken in order to control the coronavirus pandemic especially in the city of Wuhan particularly the travel restrictions were said to be as strict as those taken during World War Two.
Combined with the imposed limitations on all kinds of travels, several countries also banned public gatherings, events and closed offices, educational institutes as well as industries one by one.
Consequently, a period of lockdown was observed and is even still going on in many countries. Some people may argue that such a situation may create difficulties for people living a normal life and they may have to struggle to obtain basic necessities.
On the other hand, environmental experts have accentuated that as soon as industries shut down and motor vehicle use decreased, the levels of pollution, specifically air pollution also went down.
In fact, greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen dioxide emissions, and global carbon emissions have also decreased. There was a fall in all emissions by fifty percent in New York followed by twenty-five percent in China.
For a pandemic that has been deemed as a ‘threat’ to global public health and stability and a potential cause for an upcoming 1930s style global economic crisis, it should not be bringing such positive changes in the environment.
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However, environmental scientists have stated that the ‘positive’ side of the coronavirus pandemic highlights how there is a need to control the majority of the human activities that are not necessarily required.
If such collective effort can be continued in some aspects of life, it may even help in controlling many of the biggest environmental hazards including the depletion of the ozone layer which has been observed to stop for the first time in years.
For example, the promulgation of using public transport instead of private vehicles for lowering transport emissions can make a huge difference.
Even though most of the environmentalists and activists would have not thought or wished for a positive change to happen because of a global health pandemic, one cannot disagree that it did show news potential ways of controlling environment-related issues in the future.
Concluding this Wednesday wisdom, it should also be noted that the coronavirus pandemic also highlighted that a big difference can be achieved if only different communities and countries around the world join hands and look after each other.
