The Unexpected Environmental Impact of Coronavirus

While much of the human population is inside quarantining, skies are clearing up, water is less polluted, and the Earth is making small recoveries from the damages caused as a result of day to day life. The COVID-19 pandemic could result in one of the greatest drops in carbon emissions in history. The last significant drop in global emissions was in 2009 after the recession and the last drop in emissions of this magnitude was seen at the end of World War 2.

Four billion people worldwide are being told to shelter in their homes, the world economy has stalled, and scientists are anxiously awaiting what could be one of the largest drops in carbon emissions in history.

Coronavirus could cause the first big emissions drop in a decade

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Some scientists say it’s still too early to expect a significant change while others say we could see an emissions drop of more than 5%. Emissions from transportation make up around 14% of global emissions and in some states, city traffic has decreased by more than 30%. Additionally, air pollution in some of the countries’ most polluted cities, Los Angeles and Seattle have seen a significant drop.

The short-term implications are much easier to see. Many of the behaviors people have given up — like driving to work everyday or taking international flights — are extremely carbon intensive

The coronavirus is giving the environment a break — but experts think it’s unlikely to stay that way

While the pandemic has some unforeseen environmental benefits, there are also many drawbacks. Due to the large quantities being used, masks and gloves that are not properly disposed of are washing up on ocean shores. Additionally, the EPA and the Trump Administration have made cutbacks to environmental regulations for the time being. Also, planes are still flying even when they’re nearly empty.

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35,000+ deaths in U.S., New York Orders Everyone To Wear Face Masks

At the time of the publishing of this article, World Meter reports that 152,318 people have died from COVID-19 around the world, with 34,641 deaths within the United States.

Unlike flu deaths, which are radically over-reported, I suspect that Coronavirus deaths are under-reported. Although, there is evidence to the contrary: The hospitals are eerily quiet, except for Covid-19. Fewer people are being treated for or dying from heart attacks and strokes and many other common diseases that normally fill up the hospitals. An argument many on the political right are making is that hospitals are basically just assuming that everyone has Coronavirus when they may just have cardiovascular disease or even the flu.

Some, including I, suspect the triggers for many of the illnesses that normally fill up the hospitals and inflate the death statistics are not happening as much. For instance, restaurant food is horrible for you! Not to mention the bars. Cooking at home and not working are likely two of the healthiest things people can do for themselves – until the money runs out, of course.

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Another argument from the right, and one I think has a lot more validity, is that people who are dying from other diseases who are having CoVID-19 listed as their cause of death would have died regardless. At the very least, most (if not all) of these people who died were very unhealthy.

Like other infectious diseases that are capable of causing a pandemic, CoVID-19 is not likely to cause death in someone who is healthy (we would argue it’s impossible, but that’s speculation for another article). I’m aware of the deaths of people who reportedly seemed healthy, but conventional health standards leave much to be desired.

New York Requires Covering Face In Public

New York is dealing with the nation’s worst coronavirus outbreak. Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday, April 15th that all people must wear a mask or something to cover the face while in public. The executive order is scheduled to take effect after a three-day grace period.

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If you are going to be in a situation, in public, where you come into contact with other people in a situation that is not socially distanced, you must have a mask or a cloth covering nose and mouth.

Andrew Cuomo

More than a third of the nation’s 600,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 are in New York, according to Johns Hopkins University. Experts say the outbreak appears to be leveling off. Cuomo said the economy won’t be able to make a full comeback until there’s a vaccine, which scientists have said will take up to a year and a half.

With local economy all but shutdown, Cuomo started outlining a gradual reopening of businesses, saying the state is moving toward a “new normal.”

Where we’re going, it’s not a reopening in that we’re going to reopen what was. We’re going to a different place.

Andrew Cuomo

Related: Coronavirus – Your Guide to the CoVID-19 Pandemic

New Research Shows Air Pollution Linked to Higher CoVID-19 Death Rates

A recent study from Harvard research has shown that air pollution in the US is linked to higher death rates of CoVID-19. Research shows that people who live in counties with high levels of PM 2.5 were 15% more likely to die from CoVID-19.

PM 2.5 is an invisible pollutant made up of microparticles that can seep into the lungs and bloodstream. PM 2.5 comes from burning wood and coal, power plants, and automobile exhaust. It is considered one of the most dangerous invisible pollutants, and high levels have been linked to heart disease, diabetes, and chronic bronchitis as well as other respiratory illnesses. All of these conditions are underlying conditions that can make CoVID-19 fatal. An estimated 78% of US patients in the ICU from CoVID-19 have underlying health conditions.

Polluted air is linked to some of the underlying conditions that make COVID-19 more fatal. Seventy-eight percent of U.S. patients who have ended up in intensive care units from COVID-19 have underlying health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, or chronic lung disease.

Zuofeng Zhang, professor of epidemiology

A study done in Italy has found similar results, linking air pollution to chronic respiratory conditions. Additionally, research done in 2003 in China showed a correlation between air pollution and death from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which is closely related to CoVID-19.

…it is well known that pollution impairs the first line of defense of upper airways, namely cilia (Cao et al., 2020), thus a subject living in an area with high levels of pollutant is more prone to develop chronic respiratory conditions and suitable to any infective agent

Can atmospheric pollution be considered a co-factor in extremely high level of SARS-CoV-2 lethality in Northern Italy?

Despite the links of air pollution to CoVID-19 deaths, both the Trump administration and the EPA have cut back on environmental regulations in the midst of the ongoing pandemic. The EPA has announced that it would be letting factories and power plants, as well as other similar facilities, regulate themselves in the middle of the pandemic. The EPA will no longer issue fines for water, air or hazardous waste violations. Some states have discouraged or banned the use of reusable bags. Other states have passed laws to penalize pipeline protestors. Along with the EPA, the Trump administration has said they will no longer expect corporations to comply with pollution reporting or routine monitoring and that they will not be pursuing penalties for breaking these laws.

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China’s Richest Man Donates a Million Masks and 500,000 Testing Kits to the U.S.

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the media and the Trump administration have taken to blaming the coronavirus pandemic solely on China. The claims made by people in power go beyond pointing out that the virus originated in China, and in many cases are statements of fear-based racism. Trump has referred to COVID-19 as the “Chinese Virus’ on several occasions. When China is mentioned in the media, it is largely negative.

The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!

Tr u mp via Twitter

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With the negative media coverage of China, there has been little to no reporting on the Chinese billionaire who recently shipped half a million testing kits and a million face masks to the U.S. On March 16th, Jack Ma announced that he would donate 1 million masks and 500,000 coronavirus testing kits to the U.S. through his charitable foundation. Additionally, Ma has donated $14.5 million for the development of a vaccine for the virus.

At this moment, we can’t beat this virus unless we eliminate boundaries to resources and share our know-how and hard-earned lessons. United we stand, divided fall!”

Jack Ma

Additionally, Ma’s foundation is donating materials to Japan, Italy, Korea, Spain, and Iran. The destination of the tests and masks has not been specified.

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COVID-19 Lockdown Potentially Contributing to a Decrease in Seismic Noise

In light of the current pandemic, human activity and a large portion of transportation have been shut down. New research, from experts who study Earth’s movements, has indicated that shutdowns have resulted in a significant drop in seismic activity.

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Campo Dei Fiori Square is seen empty on March 10, 2020 in Rome, Italy Campo Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images

Data from a seismometer at the observatory show that measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Brussels caused human-induced seismic noise to fall by about one-third”

Thomas Lecocq, seismologist, the Royal Observatory of Belgium

Seismic noise is the hum of vibrations within Earth’s crust. Earthquakes cause the Earth’s crust to vibrate, but on a day to day basis vehicles and industrial machines also add to vibrations. These day to day vibrations create background noise which can impair seismologists’ ability to detect other signals that occur at the same frequency. A decrease in seismic noise could allow detectors to recognize smaller earthquakes and increase efforts to monitor other seismic events such as volcanic activity.

If lockdowns continue in the coming months, city-based detectors around the world might be better than usual at detecting the locations of earthquake aftershocks”

Andy Frassetto, a seismologist at the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology in Washington DC

This research comes from Brussels and similar changes have been found in a station in Los Angeles. It’s estimated that not every monitoring station will see a significant difference in activity. Certain stations are located in remote areas to avoid human vibrations.

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Coronavirus Lockdowns Have Changed the Way Earth Moves- Scientific American

Police Dragged Man Off Bus After Philadelphia Said All Riders Have To Wear Masks For Coronavirus

At least seven Philadelphia police officers forcibly removed a man off of a city bus on Friday. People who were there say the man was removed for not wearing a mask.

The incident was caught on camera and the video was shared on Twitter by the Philly Transit Riders Union, an organization that advocates for public transit users. The organization is asking for the incident to be investigated.

While viewers aren’t able to see the events that led up to the officers’ arrival, the footage shows the man, who was not wearing a face mask, being dragged off the bus by several uniformed officers with police yanking at his limbs as he seems to resist being removed. He then tells them he wants their badge numbers.

According to the group, the man was pulled off the bus because he wasn’t wearing a face mask.

Buzz Feed

https://twitter.com/phillyTRU/status/1248656214642262016

COVID-19 Threatens Indigenous People in Brazil as Deforestation in the Amazon Continues

The Karipuna people in the Brazilian Amazon are in isolation due to COVID-19, but the presence of loggers close to their villages is compromising their efforts to stay safe. The Karipuna Indigenous People’s Association (Apoika), Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi), and Greenpeace Brasil have filed a joint complaint with the local federal prosecutor’s office. Multiple complaints by both Brazil and international agencies have been submitted in regards to relentless logging and land invasion in the Rondônia state where the Karipunia live. The current pandemic means the invasion of indigenous land is especially dangerous for the occupants of the land.

We are scared that one of these invaders will bring the virus inside our territory…Bolsonaro has told these people that it’s just a little flu and that they can go back to work.”

Adriano Karipuna, one of the group’s leaders – Mongabay

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The Yanomami people in the Roraima state are experiencing the same threats. Illegal mining activity in the region has not ceased during the pandemic, and a 15-year-old Yanomami boy has died from the coronavirus.

Both the Amazon and the indigenous peoples who live there are vulnerable right now. Many native customs facilitate the spread of respiratory diseases. Other factors like poor sanitation, immune systems that are not used to contact with many modern diseases, and a lack of healthcare facilities will exacerbate the risk. Meanwhile, deforestation attempts have not slowed. Clearance rates are 10% higher this year than they were for the same period last year. In addition, deforestation figures for August 2019 to the end of March 2020 are twice the rate they were for August 2018 to the end of March 2019.