Environment and Sustainability

The environment is thriving

The environment is currently thriving due to everyone in the world being on lock down. There have been reports that short-term air pollution has dropped immensely as well as the Venice canal showing proof that, without humans, the water can become clearer and fish start to inhabit their natural habitats once again.

Humans could possibly be the reason why this world is so polluted. We allow companies to pollute the air with their fumes, we build nuclear power plants, we created plastic and now it’s a never-ending cycle trying to eliminate it. But with this isolation period we are seeing results that could be positive for the environment.

Maybe every so often the government should put this into measure where all around the world we are forced to allow the earth a break from us humans. We all know that all around the world climate change is a big deal. We only have one Earth we should protect it.

Dr Fei Liu, a NASA air quality researcher found that it is the first time he has seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area for a specific event.

“Given the huge amount of evidence that breathing dirty air contributes heavily to premature mortality, a natural – if admittedly strange – question is whether the lives saved from this reduction in pollution caused by economic disruption from COVID-19 exceeds the death toll from the virus itself,” said Dr Liu.

According to the World Air Quality Index, Australia is doing fine when it comes to air pollution. Currently, around Australia, we are sitting at a good to moderate amount.

The worst place in Australia with air pollution is a town called Gretna, located in Tasmania. Despite being the worst here, in comparison to the rest of the world pollution levels are pretty low.

The worst place in the world is cities in China: Kashgar and Asku. Their ratings are over 400 / 400+ which is considered hazardous. Because of this, citizens may experience more serious health effects.

Air is quite vital to us maintaining our health. With air pollution we may not be able to live as long or even live life to the fullest. We must take responsibility for our actions and being in this lockdown has improved air quality. Thus, stating that implementing the lockdown didn’t just save us from the pandemic but also helped save the environment as well.