A few things that are a Change for the better

When the Coronavirus started impacting our lives, life as we knew it came to a screeching halt. Many things seem chaotic, and while many of us wish things would go back to “normal,” a few things have actually gotten better. Things that we’d all like to stay that way.

The Water

In Venice, for the first time in a very long time, the canal water is clear enough to see fish and dolphins are returning.

The Sky

In large cities, air pollution is down drastically. In some cities by 30% or more. Los Angeles, New York, Manila, and Milan’s clear skies have some residents seeing their “true” view for the first time. According to a Stanford professor, the reduction in pollution is likely to have saved tens of thousands of lives among children and the elderly in China alone.

The Quiet

Not long ago, a busy intersection in Boston near the college, you’d be exposed to a noise level of 95 decibels. Extended or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 decibels damages our hearing. When the city shut down, the intersection reads under 68 decibels. That’s the level of a normal conversation. Interestingly, many people have been wondering aloud on social media whether the birds have gotten louder. One person wrote on Facebook,

I used to think there weren’t really any birds in Wuhan, because you rarely saw them and never heard them. I now know they were just muted and crowded out by the traffic and the people.

We need to pay attention to the things that we should have been noticing all along and make sure we don’t lose sight of them again.