As society slowly emerged from lockdowns, carbon emissions also resumed.
As of June 2020, greenhouse gas emissions are only 5% lower than they were last year.
“Consider what its taking to achieve this reduction.
Marko Klaric / EyeEm / Getty Images
More than 600,000 people have died, and tens of millions are out of work,” Gates writes.
“This April, car traffic was half what it was in April 2019.
For months, air traffic virtually came to a halt.
Whats remarkable is not how much emissions will go down because of the pandemic, but how little.”
For example, the U.S. government has been injecting money into the fossil fuel industry through extraordinary subsidies.
Gas industries are a heavy emitter of greenhouse gases, particularly methane, which is very dangerous.
In this instance, COVID-19 is going to accelerate climate change.
This breeds the potential for zoonotic diseases to transfer from animals to humans.
This is what happened with SARS-CoV-2 and bats, which harbor hundreds of coronaviruses.
The risk of a new virus that can be transmitted from humans increases when climate change happens.
Plastic pollution was a problem long before this pandemic, but the increase in medical waste compounds it.
This contributes to biosphere degradationthe degradation of the living part of the planet.
The pandemic has exacerbated all of these problems with plastics."
Pamela L. Geller, PhD
The general public needs to start using reusable and not disposable masks.
Geller concedes that single-use plastics have their place amid the pandemic.
“We have seen a dramatic uptick in the use of disinfectant wipes, surgical masks, and gloves.
These are designed for disposability and contain plastics.
I understand the necessity of these items during the current pandemic.”
“I often spot these items thrown casually on the ground.
I think that the general public needs to start using reusable and not disposable masks.
This prevents them from ending up on the street or elsewhere outdoors where they can harm animals.
Shopping
Altered shopping habits have added to the increase in waste.
For example, before the pandemic, we would go to Whole Foods with reusable bags.
At the beginning of the lockdown, we shifted to getting Whole Foods deliveries through Amazon Prime.”
Dining Out
The shift to single-use plastics has made its way into public places as well.
Sharit highlights that eateries with self-serve policies now supply customers with plastic gloves to use when dispensing food.
Deforestation in the Amazon
Another ongoing environmental concern that has been worsened by the pandemic is deforestation.
Deforestation emits copious amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming.
At the same time, deforestation means fewer trees to absorb CO2, leading to lower air quality.
COVID-induced economic collapse could further hinder implementation.
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