COVID-19 UNDER THE SEA

By David Yao Sophia Carino

It has been seven months since the coronavirus crossed the line in our lives from being a mere news notification to manifesting itself, for the fortunate, in the form of quarantine. With so much time that has gone by, many of us have found ways to adapt to our newly brought-on circumstances. For some, a drive to work became a walk to a computer, meetups with friends turned into Google Meets, and trips to the grocery store “cyberized” to online shopping.

Surveys conducted by the US Census Bureau quantify the extent to which these impacts have in the U.S. From September 30th to October 12th, 37.5% of the 250 million adult respondents reported that a portion or the entirety of their job turned into telework. Similarly, around 35.1 and 52 percent of respondents reported reducing their number of trips to stores and public transportation use, respectively.

On the surface, these statistics show relatively substantial progress to climate sustainability compared to past years. The partial revitalization of the economy, in conjunction with reduced transportation, gives hope that a working economy and climate concerns are not mutually exclusive. However, the impact of the global pandemic transcends deeper than just the surface.

The data suggests more people have thought twice about taking trips and utilizing public transportation than before COVID-19, but beneath this environmental solace lies our natural drift towards the pre-COVID-19 environment. Take, for example, the reduction in public transportation usage. A study conducted by a Vanderbilt University professor, Dan Work, shows how the discontinuation of public transportation services could lead to increased traffic congestion in major cities such as Chicago, New York, Boston, San Francisco, etc. With the inevitable switch from pooling passengers in one vehicle to using individual vehicles, traffic in these cities is predicted to substantially escalate- increasing the number of vehicles and the amount of emission per vehicle. In fact, models by Glen Peters et al. add we will most likely see an increase in gas emissions during 2021 despite the 2020 reduction.

Needless to say, COVID-19 has influenced atmospheric chemistry; yet, another overlooked facet of the pandemic is its impact below sea level.

Before COVID-19, a long-term concern for oceans was acidification. In ocean acidification, atmospheric molecules, the most notable being carbon dioxide, are absorbed into the ocean, react with water, and reduce carbonate concentrations, all while increasing the pH of the environment. Experiments have shown this process alters marine ecosystems to the point where even predator-prey relationships change. The news of smaller nitrogen dioxide concentrations and less carbon dioxide emissions post-COVID-19 have led experts in the field to believe oceans are recovering. Unfortunately, this change was not brought about

by environmental policy and the gradual return of pre-COVID economic emissions has not been taken into consideration.

In addition to ocean acidification, there is also the issue of plastic pollution. By the year 2050, the weight of plastic pollution will be greater than that of all the fish in the Earth’s oceans. Unfortunately, this area of sustainability has not been improved nor brought to the same level of attention as other topics in the political sphere. The oversupply and recent price drop of oil directly lead to cheaper plastic production. The price of manufacturing new plastic products is then economically favorable compared to the profit-margins of recycling, which facilitates greater plastic production. In terms of recycling, no policy measures have been taken to mitigate the production of plastic; in fact, stay-at-home orders have led to more organic and inorganic waste generation overall.

In municipalities with previously low recycling rates, the convenience and demand for waste products continue to promote low recycling rates. The city of Chicago published a report showing consistently low rates of recycling. Since 2016, Chicago has yet to recycle more than ten percent of recyclable products with each year descending. The amount of recyclable material accumulated up until October of this year has almost equaled that of the quantity measured during the previous year. Medical waste generation has also seen a significant spike.

Roughly 129 and 65 billion masks and gloves, respectively, are used a month, none of which are recycled. Should this rate be maintained, this year will end with ~30% more waste compared to 2019, a pronounced detriment to an already astonishing rate for the oceans.

Case studies on plastic pollution in coastal regions of Europe have shown detrimental effects to coasts and are both literally and figuratively downstream consequences of the surge in plastic demand and usage. Based on drone imagery, it was shown on the Catalan coast that the open sea received plastic pollution from coastal waters. To better understand the problem, five Mediterranean countries participated in a study involving plastic particles floating around their shores. Ninety percent of all litter in these studies was plastic products. The study recognized a multi-disciplinary approach between multiple countries that provides more ground for effective legislation.

On the other hand, coronavirus has also left some bodies of water unperturbed. Legislation regulating maritime travel and the beaches in coastal areas of the Veneto region has been the silver lining for these regions. When these regulatory orders are inevitably uplifted, it is likely a resurgence, and possibly an increase from pre-COVID-19, of human intervention will occur. Almost all ecological improvements that coastal regions have seen depend on COVID-

19-based orders. It is these laws and the temporary diminish in pollution in coastal regions that further procrastinate consistent efforts towards coastal conservation.

As desirable as it sounds to return to a pre-COVID-19 world, it is safe to assume the relatively promising environmental improvements that have emerged during this time of global hardship will be undone. The pandemic we live in today is almost nothing but disastrous compared to the circumstances of 2019. But excluding conservationist discussions from our coronavirus discourse will only reflect our passive attitude to sustainability needs before the pandemic. These times give every individual an obligation to reflect upon the ways we may contribute to more sustainable practices or increase awareness. The very fact that such cases of pollution occur in our recession is evidence of our natural gravitation towards an environmentally perturbing society.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides undergraduates with a list of opportunities to get involved. Sign up for the UChicago career advancement to receive updates on sustainability opportunities.

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