Effects of COVID-19 shutdown on environment amid 50th Earth Day

Wednesday marks the 50^th installment of Earth Day, and with most of the world following stay-at-home ordinances in recent weeks, some say the environment has had time to recover in the wake of far fewer people on the roads and in the air and a massive reduction in nitrogen dioxide emissions from automobiles. Chandana Mitra, an associate professor in Auburn University’s department of geosciences, gives her thoughts about what she says are the positive byproducts that have come about by the coronavirus-forced lockdown and what it could mean going forward.

In honor of Earth Day, Mitra will take part in a Facebook Live event hosted by the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. The event is called “Mother Earth as Art” on will occur on Wednesday from 1-2 p.m. CST.

There have been numerous reports from major media about how stay-at-home orders have reportedly given the environment a chance to cleanse itself and how a possible positive aspect of it all has been improved air quality. Can you talk about what is taking place around the globe during the shutdown?

My research is very much urban-centric, and so I’ve been closely following the news about how levels of air pollution in cities has been improving. People are not traveling as much, so there’s much less air pollution and eventually, I think it will benefit human health and also climate change. NASA has come out with images from above Wuhan, China, that show that nitrogen dioxide—which is a byproduct of cars and traffic—has been greatly reduced, and that’s phenomenal. They found the same thing over Italy and many other cities around the world. That’s one good part of all of this.

If you think of cities like New Delhi and many developing-world cities, poisonous urban air has already caused damage to people’s lungs, so their respiratory systems are already compromised, and it could have led to more deaths in big cities due to COVID-19. So, the sudden stalling of traffic of course will make the air cleaner during the COVID-19 crisis and will remain so or be better, especially if we do not go back to ‘business as usual.’ We live very fast-paced lives, and we haven’t had much time to sit back and think about how everything affects our beautiful Earth. Maybe the slowing down is going to teach us new ways of sustainability in our everyday lives.

Do you think the planet has been, in essence, healing itself the past month or so?

Yes, it has, and we have seen ample examples all around. I’ve seen images showing the cleaner canals of Venice, where the water quality has improved a great deal without all the emissions into the water from boats. There also have been reports that the Himalayas have never been more visible than before, in cities where they are normally not visible, due to the improved air quality.

We also have seen animals out exploring more in and around cities and have been able to hear birds chirping more because of a reduction in noise pollution around the globe. This is a time when the Earth is taking a vacation from this fast-moving trend of over-exploitation we have imposed on it. It is healing, and hopefully we will not go back to business as usual.

Another positive byproduct of the shelter-in-place directives has been people keeping active outdoors—often times in parks and out in nature—while still practicing social distancing. Can you talk about how this has led people to reconnect with nature?

One of the positive aspects of the shutdown has been more connectivity with nature and people feeling at one with nature, which was not always happening in our fast-paced lives. Personally, I’ve seen many of my friends and colleagues in Auburn teaching their children about nature through their outdoor activities. Expose them to science through nature. They’ve been connecting through that, and that’s good for the children, because we need to nurture and educate the next generation. Do things like take them for walks. Of course there’s a health benefit to that, but there’s also a huge educational and outreach aspect of this, too. I know I’ve never appreciated and enjoyed my own back yard more than before all this.

Wednesday is the 50^th Earth Day celebration. What do you think about the progress that has been made in the past 50 years regarding taking care of the planet, and what awareness might this year’s Earth Day bring to the world’s citizens?

We have progressed a lot in the last 50 years, in terms of preserving and nurturing the Earth. We have had so many consortiums of scientists, government officials and stakeholders—just like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations and The World Bank—and innumerable agencies working together on a global scale who have tried to do a top-down approach to educate and create awareness among the masses. Many great policies have been put in place. A huge amount of education has been done in K-12 schools and in colleges, and we have been successful in grooming a lot of our young citizens.

This 50^th anniversary of Earth Day will bring back some focus on climate change and the need for us to preserve our Earth, not to overexploit and to be more sustainable, not only in our daily lives, but also at the level of countries and global organizations. This 50^th anniversary of Earth Day is a reminder that we must live in harmony with nature. Mother Earth is our provider, and we have to care for and cherish our relationship with the Earth, just like we cherish our relationships with our mother, father and family.