Yak Magazine // 2020
A WORLD REVITALISED
Leanne Elliott and Jayme Zimmermann investigate how the pandemic lockdown has positively affected the environment globally. With COVID-19 causing a global lockdown,
uninhabitable due to the high levels of pollution.
mother nature has been rejuvenated. Water
This was seen majorly in the Venice Canals
and air quality have drastically improved, and
in Italy.
many species of animals are returning to local environments now that the human population
According to ABC News ‘…since the drastic
is remaining indoors due to isolation. Could
reduction of water traffic and tourism,
this pandemic just be what our environment
residents have observed the usually muddy
needed for us to wake up and realise how we
canals run with sparkling clear water with
as people majorly damage our environment on
swarms of fishes and the canal bottom clearly
a daily basis?
visible. “There are no boats, there is no traffic. Definitely, it is cleaner,” Venice resident Serguei
Due to tourism coming to a standstill and global
Michtchenko said.’
lockdowns being rolled out, waterways across the globe have slowly become less polluted.
Italy was one of the major countries affected
From fewer people, boats and waste being
by COVID-19 with a current estimated 267,000
around and in waterways it has allowed for
cases of the virus. The country going into
cleaner conditions and more marine wildlife
lockdown has allowed nature to flourish, with
to return to habitats that were for years
jellyfish being spotted in the Venice canals for the first time in years. Similarly, we have witnessed an improvement in air quality, in some cases, air pollution in some areas decreased so much it was detectable by satellite. There is also a suggestion that the lockdowns have reduced visible smog and atmospheric pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulphur dioxide. In India, a place renowned for its extreme air pollution, there are reports of people finally being able to
Designed by: Xavier Williams
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