Hi! This is going to be the first real post of my blog–I Can’t Breathe. I wanted to talk about the topic of COVID-19 and particularly air pollution because while the world seemed to be very optimistic about sharing the miracle of Venice’s canals when they first hit the Internet, the interest in environmental issues seemed to have died down after people started getting busy going back to work and travelling.
Indeed, it appears that COVID-19 has unintentionally caused some positive ripple effects on our air. Pre-COVID, the WHO estimated that over 4.2 million people die every year from outdoor air pollution that causes health-related diseases like lung cancer, heart disease and acute respiratory infections. In fact, a recent study further estimated that this number balloons to 10.2 million deaths per year. The study investigates global mortality from particulate matter generated by combustion of fossil fuels; and suggests that 62% of those deaths are in China and India.
They say that air pollution has killed and will kill far more people than COVID-19 ever will.
This is why air pollution needs to be taken seriously.
Apparently, since COVID-19 has caused businesses, services and activities to screech to a halt, the air pollution figures have concomitantly decreased significantly as well. Watch this video by CNBC where they share some interesting things about how COVID-19 has improved air quality so drastically that some cities are predicting very tangible benefits on their people’s health.
Despite all the global, international, national efforts to cope with climate change, we’ve seen minimal progress. Who knew what we needed was a global pandemic for things to finally start taking a turn?
I might be wary to say that COVID-19 is a silver lining for our environment. Because it is not. People have been lost to this pandemic and we should not weigh it in cost-benefit. We should take the lessons learnt from this–that we do not always need what we think we need; that we can afford to consume and produce less; and that the benefits of our actions can be real.
Cheers to greater hope for our environment,
Phyllis