worldwide lockdowns and other efforts to
contain the corona virus pandemic are
having a major impact on our lives yet
the sometimes extreme measure is being
taken are apparently having side effects
on nature as well
we've been hearing about smog free blue
skies in Chinese cities and dolphins
allegedly swimming in the ports of
northern Italy
but the question is what's really
happening here is this just a brief
pause or could it be the beginning of
long-lasting sustainable changes a
promising sign that our earth might
finally be able to take a deep breath
after Chinese authorities implemented a
strict lockdown on boohead the city
streets were deserted for more than two
months now this image is repeating
itself all over the globe
[Music]
a third of the global population is now
on lockdown with strict travel bans and
closed borders to non-essential journeys
as a result streets and highways are
empty and most airlines have had to
suspend operations the most immediate
side effect of all the policies aiming
to contain the spread of kovat 19 has
been a sudden drop in greenhouse gas
emissions in China emissions fell by 25
percent after the outbreak of the corona
virus and ESO satellites have detected a
massive reduction of no.2 emissions
across the European continent
predominantly over northern Italy
cities that are notorious for their
problematic levels of air pollution like
Beijing Los Angeles and Madrid have
reported rapid improvements in this
regard
all across the globe we are experiencing
clear skies and empty streets the change
is visible in satellite images or even
the GPS data on our Sat Navs green
ribbons wriggling through cities mark
the absence of the usual traffic
[Music]
but the consequences of the corona virus
pandemic aren't just having an impact on
pollution levels a reduction of human
activity in general can apparently
influence our natural surroundings as
well reports of wildlife returning to
abandoned places have been popping up
all over the globe like this herd of
wild deer in Maryland goats appearing in
Welsh towns or even sightings of Pumas
in the city of Santiago however many of
these reports have been unmasked as fake
like these drunken elephants in corn
wine plantations of yoona or the
Venetian dolphins that were actually
recorded off the island of Sardinia
[Music]
still with large rural areas like
national parks and ski resorts closed to
the public we can assume that there will
be a positive impact on local wildlife
winter tourism in particular is
notorious for its environmental impact
especially for the disturbance of
wildlife sensitive species like grouse
or ShamWow usually run low on energy at
this time of year so the absence of
people minimizes their stress hormone
levels and could even improve their
access to food
the early closure of ski resorts in
Europe and North America can even have
positive consequences for local wildlife
in the long term if an expected
population increase vindicates
[Music]
it's still too early to tell right now
so we'll have to wait until at least
mating season to be able to confirm this
assessment a far more intriguing
question might be will we prevent
pollution from bouncing back to
pre-pandemic levels once all this is
over or could this disease bring
long-lasting relief for nature the
answer is most likely no history shows
us that a rebound of pollution levels is
highly likely the economic crisis of
2008 saw carbon emissions fall but as
soon as economy started to grow again
pollution rose sharply to levels well
above the pre-crisis ones
it's hard to predict whether we'll
experience a similar rise in emissions
again but this time there could be an
important difference with business
travel band and people ordered to work
from home we might see a change in
behavior coming into play this is mostly
to do with our habitual patterns it's
hard for people to make changes even if
they know they should but once those
changes have actually been implemented
it's much easier to stick to them a 2001
study by Kyoto University showed that
drivers who are forced to use public
transport for a certain period of time
were unlikely to switch back to driving
their cars even if they could so times
of change can lead to the introduction
of lasting habits the behavioural
patterns were learning right now might
also be good for the climate we could
find ourselves avoiding unnecessary
travel or cutting down on food waste
after this experience however there is a
bigger threat emerging the consequences
of the economic crisis
by the end of March the Trump
administration had approved a two
trillion dollar rescue package for the
American economy be the ass game
tomorrow we're similar budgets were
granted around the globe with these
enormous amounts of public spending
being shoveled into national economies
we might end up on the other side of the
crisis with no funds left to invest in
green initiatives
[Music]
the Czech Prime Minister and rubaba SH
has already declared that Europe's Green
Deal to become a mission neutral by 2050
is dead in the water
similar concerns can be heard coming
from North America as well right now
it's far too early to predict what the
world will look like on the other side
of this pandemic only a short while has
passed since emission levels started to
drop and the effects on wildlife are
only snapshots in time
deductive assessments that lack actual
long-term data but whatever the outcome
may be in dealing with this crisis we
might have just started to understand
the consequences of over exploiting
existing resources
if we succeed in flattening the curve of
humanity's impact on the environment as
well we can ensure the survival of our
species and many others over the long
term
[Music]