How has the environment fared in the midst of this global pandemic?

Words by Scott Dutfield

It’s been several months since countries around the world began closing their borders, grounding air travel and quarantining their residents. It’s been an unprecedented time filled with uncertainty and anxiety about the future, but could there be a positive environmental effect for a world with people self-isolating?

On average, global emissions of one of the most damaging gases to our environment, carbon dioxide, reach over 36 billion tonnes each year - a figure that has soared from the 2 billion tonnes recorded back in 1900. As a result global temperatures have increased, ice sheets have melted and the world’s climate has changed. Human activities such as burning fossil fuels for energy production and increased pollution from travel have been at the forefront of climatic change.

That was, of course, before COVID-19. To prevent this persistent virus from hopping from one host to another, people have been instructed to stay at home. In an attempt to stop the rising number of new cases, the way we once lived has also fallen to the wayside, in turn stifling globally damaging emissions.

One of the biggest contributors to the climate crisis is the industrial and domestic production of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, which have been increasing at the rate of around one per cent each year. By its very nature carbon dioxide increases what is known as the greenhouse effect, whereby thermal energy is trapped in the atmosphere and heats up the world below.

In April of this year daily global emissions of carbon dioxide fell by 17 per cent when compared to the same time in 2019. These levels were last seen in 2006. Another harmful gas that makes its way into the atmosphere is nitrogen dioxide. This reddish-brown coloured gas has been found to have a more direct effect on human health.