In a matter of weeks, COVID-19 has turned the world upside down; striking down old habits and assumptions, as we scramble to control the pandemic. Central to our efforts has been social distancing. People are staying home fearful of catching the virus or spreading it; only venturing out to get groceries, or for their daily dose of exercise. City centres have shut down, factories have closed. If aliens arrived tomorrow, they’d quickly get the message: we’re closed for business.

However, in our abrupt absence, the environment is undergoing a metamorphosis. As the saying goes, nature abhors a vacuum. Here are five ways COVID-19 is changing the world as we know it.

1. Air Pollution is Dropping Off

The once-bustling streets of New York are eerily quiet. Times Square is a ghost town. The entire city seems to be stuck in the opening credits of a zombie movie.

Traffic levels are estimated to be down thirty-five per cent compared with a year ago, resulting in a nearly fifty per cent drop in carbon monoxide according to preliminary results by researchers at Columbia University. Professor Roisin Commane explained, ‘New York has had exceptionally high carbon monoxide numbers for the last year. And this is the cleanest I have ever seen it. It is less than half of what we normally see in March.’

In China, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment reported, ‘the average number of ‘good quality air days’ increased 21.5% in February, compared to the same period last year.’

NO2 levels have dropped dramaticall over China in recent months. Credit: NASA

Levels of nitrogen dioxide, a severe air pollutant, which increases the risk of asthma and lung inflammation, has been plunging across both China and Northern Italy. Following the 2008 recession, emissions had gradually declined as the economic situation worsened. Whereas, the recent declines have been almost instantaneous.

‘This is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area for a specific event,’ said Fei Liu, an air quality researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre.

Europe is also seeing the benefits as the continent locks down. Satellite imagery from the European Space Agency (ESA) showed that air pollution from nitrogen dioxide had fallen by an estimated forty per cent in three European cities. Usually, almost every city-inhabitant is exposed to harmful levels of pollution. No more.

Marshal Burke, an air quality expert, estimated that in China alone emission reductions ‘have saved the lives of 4,000 kids under five and 73,000 adults over 70.’

But we shouldn’t be too jubilant.

Li Shuo, a senior policy adviser for Greenpeace East Asia, warned of ‘revenge pollution’, fearing a spike in pollutants as the pandemic passes. If the economic impacts cut deep, Li warns, China will try anything to bloody-mindedly try to restart its economy, damn the costs.

‘There might be a round of economic stimulus which would inject cheap credits to heavy industries in China, and as a result of that we might see increasing pollutants and also carbon emissions in the second half of this year,’ Li added.

Following the global financial crisis, we observed a similar bounce-back. Time will tell if China has learned the lessons of the past.

2. Greenhouse Gas Emissions are Plummeting

The roads are bare. The skies are empty.

Empty streets in Milan caused by partial quarantine. The silence is eery. Credit: Alberto Trentanni

In China, the world biggest producer and consumer of coal — fifty-nine per cent of Chinese energy came from coal in 2018 — there has been a thirty-six per cent drop in consumption by major coal-fired power stations between 3 February and 1 March. Carbon Brief reported a 25% drop in energy use and emissions, in China, due to the draconian lockdown.

An analysis by the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) described a drastic reduction in international and domestic transportation worldwide, as countries lockdown their populace and shut down their infrastructure. A massive drop in oil demand is predicted to persist throughout the year — the first full-year decline in more than a decade. Resultantly, as demand goes into freefall, oil and steel production are entering what could be a long-term slump, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

International travel has evaporated due to fears of infection. Delta Airlines has seen a seventy per cent reduction in flight capacity. While in Europe, Ryanair warned it might have to suspend all flights as the continent enters the eye of the storm. EasyJet has grounded a hundred aircraft across Europe, British Airways plans to cut seventy-five per cent of flights in April and May, and Virgin Atlantic is scrapping eighty per cent of flights by 26 March.

Parked airplanes at Dübendorf Airfield during the Corona virus crisis in March 2020

In the post-viral world, air travel will be unrecognisable. Many airlines simply won’t exist.

Domestically, people are remaining indoors, under pressure from the severe penalties for those not following the letter of the law. Many who can are working-from-home; a trend which looks likely to persist into the future. A report by The Climate Group found that homeworking has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by over three-million tonnes a year in the UK alone.

As norms change and environmental benefits become locked in, the government will face a series of difficult choices once the pandemic passes.

Do they revert to their old ways, or do they bite the bullet and go green?

‘Governments now have to be really cautious on how they re-stimulate their economies, mindful of not locking in fossil fuels again,’ said Professor Le Quéré from the University of East Anglia.

However, the more severe the economic damage, the more likely governments are to rely on any measure to patch the hull and keep the ship afloat.

3. Waterways are Crystal Clear

It’s not just the air which is cleaner. In picturesque Venice, the world-famous canals are also crystal clear, leading life-long residents to be amazed at the fish which swim in their depths.

Locals have been uploading their photos to a Facebook group called Venezia Pulita (Clean Venice) — grabbing the attention of the world.

One user noted, ‘Marvellous there are even fish that we have the opportunity to see’.

Many expressed sadness that the sight wasn’t an everyday occurrence. But the peace and tranquillity which allowed the Venetians to admire their waters, was also responsible for their clarity.

Venice’s mayor explained to CNN that the dramatic change was not due to an improvement in water quality, but due to a decrease in water traffic, which usually stirs up the sediment leading to the murky colour.

Regardless, the quarantine has connected people worldwide with the oft-forgotten waters which dissect the historic architecture, revealing the hidden creatures which call the canals home. The locals will never look at them the same way again.

4. Waste is Mounting

Modern society generates a colossal amount of rubbish, smothering products in cardboard and plastic.

Bad habits die hard.

Starbucks has banned reusable cups from their branches to prevent the spread of the virus, as health concerns take priority over the environment. While reports of increasingly scarce fresh produce will force many to rely on pre-packaged foods.

Inevitably, these changes will lead to more and more waste. But who is going to collect it?

Waste collection workers are becoming increasingly reticent about their jobs and the level of protection provided. On 23 March, in Hamilton, Canada, seventy waste collectors refused to work after learning the virus can live on garbage cans for up to three days. Barry Conway, who manages such workers, stated they are ‘happy to play our role’, but said many had expressed concerns about catching the virus. Already, leaf and yard waste collection has been suspended until further notice.

In Brussels, Belgium, plastic and cardboard waste collection has stopped for the foreseeable future. While waste collection in the US is currently continuing as usual, past crisis’ have shown that once the trash stops getting collected, it quickly accumulates, leading to rats and other disease vectors.

Meanwhile, China is struggling to deal with the mountains of medical waste generated by the pandemic. Millions of face masks, gloves and other contaminated items have the potential to become an ecological disaster if not disposed of correctly. Medical waste in Wuhan, the former epicentre of the outbreak, has quadrupled to more than two hundred tonnes a day.

Facilities built to deal with medical waste following the SARS outbreak seventeen years ago are nearing the end of their operational life, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said last year. But even if the facilities were brand-new, the nation severely lacks capacity. Wuhan’s only dedicated medical waste disposal facility is capable of handling only fifty tonnes a day. Put simply; essential services are being overwhelmed.

5. Our Cities are Going Wild

In recent weeks, reports of dolphins and swans swimming in the sparkling Venetian canals have gone viral across social media. Alongside photos of elephants drunk on corn wine, apparently taking a nap in a tea garden outside a village in Yunnan, China.

Nature was reclaiming our deserted cities, or so the story went.

But, as with most news these days, it wasn’t true. More fake news.

Swans are regulars in the canals of Burano, a small island in the greater Venice metropolitan area. While the dolphins weren’t even in Venice, the film had been taken in a port in Sardinia, hundreds of miles away; and those adorable sleeping elephants are frequent visitors to the village and tea garden. They weren’t even drunk.

People saw what they wanted to see. The stories feeding an increasingly common misanthropic narrative: we are a virus, COVID-19 is the cure.

However, there was a kernel of truth. In major metropolitan areas, animals have been seen staking out a new home. In Nara, Japan, herds of Bambi-looking sika deer have been seen wandering the abandoned streets.

Wild turkeys have been spotted in a playground elementary school in Oakland, California. In Lopburi, Thailand, monkeys, used to grazing on the generosity of tourists, resorted to brawling over a yoghurt. While raccoons romped around on the beaches of San Felipe, Panama.

‘There were three raccoons, just frolicking along right at the edge of the surf,’ said Larsen, the director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. ‘I’ve lived here for six years, and it was something I had never seen before.’

As our absence persists, more and more animals will venture into these once forbidden lands.

‘Normally, animals live in the parts of our cities that we don’t use,’ said Seth Magle, from the Urban Wildlife Institute at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. ‘It makes them an unseen presence, kind of like ghosts.’

The plucky perseverance of our new neighbours can teach us a valuable lesson during these trying times. Life always finds a way: humanity will survive. The world keeps on spinning. But, when we finally head back out from our self-imposed isolation, we might be surprised to find the environment a very different place than we left it.

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Remember: wash your hands, keep your distance!