Environmental effects of the pandemic

Environmental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

article and photo by Parker Briggs, originally published 4/15/20

Air quality in urban areas has improved worldwide as a result of lockdown policies enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Atmospheric carbon and nitrogen dioxide levels in China, the world’s largest producer of air pollution, were recently measured to be 25% lower than they were in March of last year, while pollution levels in Northern Italy have declined upwards of 40%. This is good news for global warming, but the effects are expected to last only as long as the lockdowns.

Air quality is not the only environmental effect of stay-at-home policies. Empty city streets provide an inviting new territory for wildlife, with silk deer taking over a subway station in Nara, Japan, and a puma spotted in downtown Santiago, Chile.

Despite the decrease in carbon emissions, there are some new threats to the environment. The International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organization focused on energy security and related environmental protection, has predicted an increase in global methane emissions, also due to lockdown policies. Oil companies experiencing revenue drops resulting from decreased gasoline sales are less likely to attend to leaky gas pipes, and may possibly increase flaring of unwanted gas.

Methane in the atmosphere is difficult to accurately measure, but its effects can be devastating: it is 80 times more powerful of a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. As governments have their hands full fighting the spread of the pandemic, they will likely be unable to crack down on methane emissions.

Carbon emission measurements are showing that there can be a bright side even to something as serious as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shoppers forced to stay home have increasingly turned to online shopping to meet their needs, meaning an increase in consumption of packaging materials as goods are delivered by mail. And as the use of disposable plastic gloves and masks has become mainstream for the public, the resulting litter has become a common sight along city streets. by Parker Briggs

The quantity of masks and gloves used for medical purposes during the pandemic is likely to be no less substantial. A single doctor testing just 50 patients per day for COVID-19, changing gloves each visit, will in one month have disposed of nearly 3,000 individual gloves. Between these various sources of pollution, the pandemic is likely to leave an almost unfathomable amount of plastics in the environment.

My mom, coronavirus & me

by Emily Simons, originally published 4/16/20

COVID-19 sucks; there is no other way to say it. The school year was cut short, and now seniors most likely won’t get a traditional graduation, which we have been looking forward to since the first day we all came together freshman year. Senior year has not turned out the way that we were expecting it to go, and on top of this I live with someone with a compromised immune system.

If I were to ask you who has been the biggest positive influence in your life, who would you choose? My answer has and always will be my mother. I grew up with a near perfect life. My mom was always there, and we had an ideal mother daughter relationship. My father has always worked very hard to provide everything for us, and I have always been very grateful.

Before the stay-at-home orders, it was so easy to slip away from reality, but now I’m faced with it from when I wake up to when I go to sleep.

Seven years ago, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, which ended up metastasizing to her brain. The cancer never scared me, because my mom never acted like it was a big deal. She would get chemotherapy every other week and was on loads of medicine, but none of that ever dampened her attitude or spirit.

Over the past year, the little bubble I was living in popped and everything was thrown upside down. After having a seventh brain surgery, my mom contracted spinal meningitis, leading to many near death experiences and a two month stay at the University of Washington hospital in Seattle. Finally, after recovering, my mom began to regain her energy and lovely spirit.

Senior Emily Simons with her mother

In December, she was put on a new drug to combat her inoperable tumors, but that scrambled her brain. One day my grandma asked her who I was and she responded with “I don’t know” and a giggle. I have been living with the ghost of who my mom was before. Yes, her body is here, but that personality and compassion that could brighten my day by just looking at her are gone. Every day I look at her and hope that she isn’t trapped somewhere inside of herself and struggling to come out of the fog she is in. I am currently living out my biggest fear while also trying to finish my senior year and experience things that are supposed to be amazing like getting into college and graduating high school.

Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, things have gotten a bit more stressful. Yes, it sucks that your trip got canceled and school is canceled, both of which are valid, but that isn’t top of mind for me right now. I am scared that if I come in contact with COVID-19, I could give it to my mom, which would speed up her decay. The ability to stay home and reduce the chances of being exposed or contracting COVID-19 have been a total stress reliever in my household. But a loss has been the ability to get away from the house for a while and go have fun with friends. Before the stay-at-home orders, it was so easy to slip away from reality, but now I’m faced with it from when I wake up to when I go to sleep.

I think it is very important that as someone who might not be heavily affected by the coronavirus symptoms, that you still are aware of the people around you and what they are going through. Make sure that you are washing your hands and trying to minimize the effects of this pandemic by staying home and making trips out as limited as possible. It is not fun, and I understand that, but it will be over sooner if you do your part and support your community. It is hard on everyone, in different ways.

Art submissions from Inkwell’s spring break challenge

Over spring break, students from all divisions of Annie Wright submitted artwork in response to the outbreak of COVID-19 and their experiences with social distancing. Their works, originally published online on 4/9/20, range greatly in their mediums, from paintings to digital illustrations. While some chose to directly portray and discuss COVID-19, others used this challenge to inspire strength in this lonely and difficult time.

Clockwise from top left: Natalie Blake, 7th grade; Maxine Pendras, 10th grade; Isabel Rozendaal, 5th grade; Skuya Elkins, Preschool 4-5; Tyler Weston, 4th grade. Visit anniewrightinkwell.org to see their artist statements.

Clockwise from top left: Eliza Hall, 7th grade; Vala Borgelt, 6th grade; Ren Henry-Mitchell, 9th grade; Sofia Verbovski, 3rd grade; Addison Stairs, 2nd grade; Alexandra Bessler, 12th grade