Covid and Climate
By: Raquel Morgens
https://www.sciencenews.org/
Covid seemingly not only affected human life but Earth´s life as well. As Covid spread many countries went into mandatory lockdowns and with this scientist saw many drops in air quality around the globe. Although this wasn't enough to have defeated climate change or global warming, but, scientists such as Jessica Gilman have not received data to understand how we can see these dropped in harmful gases like nitrogen oxide, without humans having to shut themselves in. With the usual pollutants in cities decreasing, scientists have also been able to understand that many of our health problems stem from poor air quality. New York alone had a decrease in nitrogen dioxide of 21 percent during the lockdown. It was also found that for many cities there wasn't as large a decrease, but scientists hope to continue to further research and understand how we can use the valuable data for future solutions.
Why would there be different drops in different cities?
Do you think we could ever see such a decrease in harmful gases without having to shut people in?
Besides a decrease in the atmospheric gases, what else have you seen that has come out/occured in a positive way during the pandemic?
There were some animals who where being overly hunted and almost going extinct getting a second chance. Because the hunters could not travel to these places. Also the dolphins in the one Italy river thing because it was cleaner.
ReplyDeleteYeah I heard about the dolphin thing as well, I think its really neat that nature will heal itself if given the chance! -Raquel Morgens
DeleteCities experienced different drops due to several factors. New York had one of the most severe first surges, therefore, their shut down was much stricter than that in other cities, additionally, cities have different factories and modes of transportation, so they were impacted differently as they may not have as many gas producing things shut down. If some people continue working at home and don't drive as much as gases could be reduced, but likely would still rise again.
ReplyDelete- Carissa Bersche
Drops most likely varied due to difference in shutdowns and how long they lasted.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes we could see a drop if people started to adapt to new ways of getting around to stay healthy or just to get around in the pandemic. I also have seen less beach pollutions such as plastics and container's left on beaches.
-Tyler A.
Some positive things that have occurred as a result of this pandemic (and this isn't really science related) but that people have become more compassionate and flexible. I feel like a lot of people learned more to go with the flow and be flexible because this pandemic has been so unpredictable. I have also seen people be more appreciative of health care workers as they have worked so hard during this time.
ReplyDelete-Trinity Mathis
I feel like drops would be different in different cities based on how long people quarantined for and If people were actually staying in. Yes I think we can have a decrease in harmful gases without shutting people in by using different transportation and other things. -Alyssa Butts
ReplyDeleteDepending on how strict stay at home orders were in different cities, this would affect the drop in bad air quality. I think we could see a drop in harmful gases without people having to shut themselves in, by changing what methods we use to get around and lowering the amount of energy we consume.
ReplyDelete-Ilori Tankpinou
Drops in air pollutants most likely differ across states because America handled the pandemic in a very inconsistent manner. The states that enforced the lockdown more effectively and quarantined for longer probably had a larger drop in greenhouse gas emissions. I believe that we have the potential to see such air quality improvements without locking people in but it would require a lot of changed mindsets and maybe even government intervention. -Shirin Saha
ReplyDelete