Corona gives the earth a truce from humans

Weather of Arabia - What is the effect of corona on the climate?

Since the World Health Organization declared the Corona virus a global epidemic, countries of the world have entered a state of heightened preparedness in their attempts to curb the spread of the virus, so measures differed between restricting the general movement of the population, imposing strict domestic quarantine in several countries, and preventing going to places of worship and carrying out any other activities, And the closure of air traffic between the countries of the world. Which made Corona give the earth a truce of human activities.

Could the corona virus have unexpected benefits?

Corona virus may have some positive effects on the environment. Through some studies conducted by the Carbon Brief website that specializes in climate research, many cities and regions affected by the spread of the Corona virus have shown a significant decline in the percentage of polluting gases and greenhouse gases due to the stop of factory activity and travel And mobility .

Observations have shown that levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO ₂ ) have decreased significantly during the closure in both China and Italy , reaching over China alone to 35% compared to 2019.

The map images below show the concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, a harmful gas emitted by cars, power plants and industrial plants.

The maps show that NO2 values across China from 1 to 20 January 2020 (before quarantine) and from 10 to 25 February (during quarantine) have decreased very significantly. The data was collected by the European Space Agency's TROPOMI instrument ( TROPOMI ). A related sensor, the Ozone Monitoring Tool ( OMI ) on NASA's Aura satellite, makes similar measurements.

In new data from the European Space Agency ( ESA ) shows decreases in NO2 concentrations above Italy due to the nationwide closure. The change is especially evident in the Pro Valley in northern Italy.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) in the United States and Mauna Loa station, carbon monoxide has dropped to 50% over New York compared to last year.

However, despite the decrease in pollution and the improvement of air quality in specific places, they are not conclusive conclusions about the environmental situation that the land has suffered from for decades.

According to the World Health Organization's statistics for 2019:

• Air pollution alone causes about 7 million deaths annually
• Fossil fuel particles cause premature death of 4 and a half million others around the world.
• Two million premature births annually, and four million cases of asthma, all caused by air pollution.
• Climate change increases the number of people affected by floods, exposed to heatwaves, or at risk of transmitted diseases such as dengue.

Although the impact of the emerging corona virus is surprising to mankind, it is less deadly than extreme weather phenomena in the world.

Will the post-Corona era include improvement measures to support environmentally friendly business practices in the long term and make new plans that take climate into account?

What are the main actions for improvement?

The following are some of the actions recommended by WHO to combat the adverse health impacts of climate change:

1. Use energy-saving solutions and move away from burning fossil fuels to produce energy.

2. Regulating industry emissions and power generation (for example brick kilns and coal-fired power plants).

3. Developing healthy and efficient transportation options, such as express transportation with walking and biking, thus providing a transportation network space for pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.

4. Reducing the burning of agricultural waste, forest fires and some agricultural forestry activities (such as coal production).

5. Determine clean energy options, taking into account health and financial implications.

As individuals, the impact Corona has on our quality of life must turn into environmentally friendly work and personal practices and practices

Thus it is time for a person to change his behavior and lifestyle . ..