Written by: Mia
Hey Readers! COVID hit us with a fast curveball and kept them coming. We’ve all had a rough year with this horrendous and seemingly undefeatable pandemic; but through all the negativity there are a few silver linings. One of the positive impacts is that it’s been beneficial to our environment, Earth and a place we call home. Quarantine helped to lessen the cases of the coronavirus and rejuvenate life around the world- humans, plants and the air. In this blog, I’ll shine some light onto the upside of COVID while spotlighting the one silver lining that came up from this disaster.
You might be thinking, how is staying home helping the environment? Well, on a daily basis automobiles (for example: car, bus, transit, etc.), planes, factories and all transportation are releasing carbon emissions (pollution) into the atmosphere. It actually makes up 1/4 of carbon emissions. From my previous post about how we can help cancel out climate change, I explained how greenhouse gases are one of many factors that lead to climate change (check out that post!). Globally, the carbon emissions have fallen about 6.45 or 2.3 billion tonnes. However, after the waterfall of lockdowns we’ve been getting, would that change even matter? To simplify the question, what will happen once everyone’s out and about? Well, in this article of Stephanie Hancock’s interview with Felix Horne Stephanie Hancock’s interview with Felix Horne, they say that “… it depends how governments respond.” I hope that even with the government’s environmental rules that people realise the importance of staying ‘green’.
In spite of all this, we need to remember to keep that environmental thinking. While most of us believe that COVID-19 has been great for us (naturally), others, including these experts, have reason to think that it’s only the peak and that it’ll plummet and worsen faster than we can aid. As mentioned in the article, there was a financial crisis in 2007-2008 where carbon emissions lowered, “but then bounced back.” So although we may have an advantage to climate change, we still need to become more eco-friendly moving forward.
Remember to always try and think positive! It seems hard to do so, however the universe will find its way to reward you and bring you back that positivity. Same goes with our environment. Treat your planet with kindness because it’s what keeps us alive and well. From everybody at WR School Food Gardens, we wish you the best, stay healthy and stay safe during this difficult time!
Content Sources
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200422-how-has-coronavirus-helped-the-environment
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/22/can-covid-19-help-ease-climate-crisis
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/why-covid-19-will-end-up-harming-the-environment