From Wuhan to New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus is moving from east to west and leaving a staggering number of corpses behind. We read of alarming reports, contradictory news, and reminded every day that we live in unprecedented and difficult times. One good news, however: emissions in cities are on the decline, and nature is running its regenerative course. But how long will this last?
After the lockdown in Italy, social media was flooding of reports of the clear waters of the Venice Canals, and of the return of ocean organisms. These were compounded by increasing headlines of noticeable decline in emissions in various cities and countries. For instance, China, which had increasing emissions in the past years had a 25% decrease in emissions since the beginning of the year. Italy, UK and France reported a 16% decrease in the month of March since the start of lockdown. New York is also reported to have had a 50% reduction in pollution.
Such decline was anticipated as COVID-19 continues to prompt more lockdowns across cities, regions and countries; thus, impacting sectors like transport, industry and manufacturing and tourism, among others. Those have for long contributed greatly to emissions, especially due to their reliance on non-renewable sources of energy. Furthermore, the lockdown has reduced excessive consumerism behaviors as approximately over 3 billion people -equivalent to approximately 40% of the world’s population, are confined in homes; hence, not consuming and contributing less to pollution generating activities.
