By: Haris Ahmad[1]
As we all know that the corona has struck the whole world very hard. It has affected the whole world and has infected thousands, leading to thousands of deaths. Until now, there are 1,352,158 confirmed cases and 75,294 deaths. On the contrary to this, the world is healing itself and, in this blog, I’ll explain how the world is healing.
If we put aside the tragedies caused to humans by COVID-19. Humans have put a full stop on many global economic activities and production facilities. By this, I mean that factories have been closed down, cars on roads have reduced and many more things that are in fact, dangerous for our climate, have stopped and due to this, there have been immense decreases in greenhouse gases as well as pollution. The grand canal in Venice, which is normally brimming with boat traffic is now empty and the water in the canals has become crystal clear due to a decrease in pollution. Just take a look at this picture of the canal.
Image Source: Andrea Pattaro, Getty Images
Just think about how beautiful the world is when there are no humans. As I explained in my previous blog, killings and genocides have also stopped due to this global emergency in places like Kashmir where people were in lockdown for months.
Moreover, in Feb, the carbon emissions in China have reduced by 25% which is an enormous number because this 25% means a 200 million ton drop in carbon dioxide. Even though this is a global tragedy and thousands are dying which all of us are agonized about but; I just want to make the humans realize that if it weren’t for them, this planet would have been much better. By this I don’t mean that we humans should’ve never existed but, I mean that if we would do small efforts to prevent global catastrophes such as climate change; we would make the life of the next generation much safer and easier. Furthermore, due to the decreased air traffic, the skies are now much clearer. The people of Beijing are enjoying blue skies after years because of the decrease in Industrial activities.
This is a picture of Beijing 3 years ago:
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Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9654d4dwVmw
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This is a picture of Beijing now:
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Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9654d4dwVmw
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Just look at these images and think again, what we have been doing to this beloved planet. We still have time to take action and do something before it’s too late. Otherwise, we have nowhere else to go. We have to change the mindset of only thinking about our own betterment; we should also think about the future of the coming generations.
The satellite image below shows the changes in the levels of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere which is a very dangerous greenhouse gas. Just look at what changes have occurred just because of a few months of the absence of industrial activities:
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Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9654d4dwVmw
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This blog was based on my opinion. The main purpose of this blog was not to say that COVID-19 is good for humans (there are people out there who make accusations like these). The main purpose of the blog was to make you realize that just because of the stoppage of industrial activity for a few months, the world is healing. Again, by this, I don’t mean that we should close down industries, no! We can use many other ways to manufacture goods without any damage to the ecosystem. If we stopped funding fossil fuels and instead, invested in renewable energy, we could produce the goods that we do now without any damage to the ecosystem.
