The Covid Pandemic: Good or Bad for the environment?

Written by: Caroline Kim

January 9, 2022

It’s been about 2 full years since the first lockdown from the pandemic, and I remember how there was so much sudden change. Schools closing, people working from home, and everyone suddenly wearing masks among many other things. But how did it change the environment? Was the impact better or worse?

During the first lockdown, because everyone was at home and travel was not permitted, the outdoors were quite empty of people. It was said that as a result, air quality was much cleaner and that there was less pollution/waste in the environment. For example, there was less noise pollution, better water quality, and better air quality. Another major impact of the lockdown was air travel: because vehicles and airplanes are a major part of emissions into the environment, the decreased travel significantly helped the environment. One significant greenhouse gas that also was initially decreased worldwide was NO2, as it was decreased by about 50% in China, 30-60% in specific European cities, 54% in Brazil, and about 25% in the US.

However, the reopening of airlines, workplaces, stores, and schools were inevitable. As the virus itself surged and places reopened, many negative impacts on the environment were brought about. For example, I’m sure you see masks thrown on streets all the time; I certainly do. Hospitalizations and the need for more materials has led to more medical waste, plastic waste, pollution, and hazardous waste. Other issues involve the use of strong disinfectants such as chlorine as well as more plastic consumption.

Overall there were some short term benefits and long term harmful impacts on the environment from this pandemic, but there’s always room for improvement: public transport, renewable energy, wastewater treatments, and of course improved human behavior.

Sources:

Rume, Tanjena, and S M Didar-Ul Islam. “Environmental Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic and Potential Strategies of Sustainability.” Heliyon, Elsevier, Sept. 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7498239/.

Gardiner, Beth. “Why Covid-19 Will End up Harming the Environment.” Science, National Geographic, 3 May 2021, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/why-covid-19-will-end-up-harming-the-environment.