Positive environmental effects of the coronavirus 2020 episode: a review

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 has made a global catastrophic situation that caused 1,039,406 deaths out of 35,347,404 infections, and it will also cause significant socioeconomic losses with poverty increasing from 17.1 to 25.9%. Although the spreading rate of COVID-19 is very high on October 6, 2020, the death rate is still less than 2.94%. Nonetheless, this review article shows that the lockdown has induced numerous positive impacts on the environment and on energy consumption. For instance, the lockdown has decreased the electricity demand by 30% in Italy, India, Germany, and the USA, and by 12-20% in France, Germany, Spain, India, and the UK. Additionally, the expenditure of the fuel supply has been decreased by 4% in 2020 as compared to the previous years (2012-2019). In particular, The global demand for coal fuel has been reduced by 8% in March and April 2020 as compared to the same time in 2019. In terms of harmful emissions, the lockdowns reduced the emissions of nitrous oxides by 20-30% in China, Italy, France, Spain, and by 77.3% in São Paulo, Brazil. Similarly, the particulate matter level has been reduced from 5-15% in Western Europe, to 200% in New Delhi, India, which in turn has enhanced the air quality in a never-seen manner in recent times. In some places, such as New York, USA, CO 2 emission was also reduced by 5-10%. The water quality, in several polluted areas, has also been remarkably enhanced, for example, the dissolved oxygen content in the Ganga River, India, has increased by about 80%. Traffic congestion has also been reduced worldwide, and in some areas, it has been reduced by 50%, such as New York and Los Angeles, USA. Overall, while the COVID-19 pandemic has shrinked the global economy by 13-32%, the pandemic has also clearly benefited to other sectors, which must be considered as the spotlight for the permanent revival of the global ecosystem.

A detailed review of the outbreak of COVID-19

“…SARS-CoV-2 remains viable up to three hours and can remain intact in droplets of minimum size of less than five micron [27,28]. Therefore, maintaining social distancing and use of mask has been considered as the strongest mode of prevention from the disease [1,11,13,[29][30][31][32][33]. As a preventive mode of action, airborne isolation, room ventilation, and appropriate application of disinfectant (especially in toilets) are strongly suggested to restrict aerosol spread of the virus [34].…”

“…Government and policymakers should very deeply focus on reducing the economic inequalities and enhance the growth. So, it was the alarming time for government to monitor every situation and taking phronetic decision at every stage [31].…”

A review of deciphering the successes and learning from the failures in preventive and health policies to stop the COVID-19 pandemic

“… 63 However, it was noticeable that lockdown had a positive effect on the environment. 64 During the lockdown across the world, people started to observe a clear blue sky and seas. The effect of lockdown restrictions has been studied and evaluated on the quality of water and air.…”

The Association Between COVID-19, Air Pollution, and Climate Change

“…This could be explained by enhanced angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) expression in respiratory epithelial cells exposed to air pollution ( 16 ). COVID-19 lockdown, on the other hand, has had numerous positive effects on the environment and energy consumption ( 17 ). It was loosely defined in terms of climate change and COVID-19.…”