2. COVID-19 is a new dangerous infectious disease that
causes illness in animals or humans.
World Health Organization gave the name of the
disease as COVID-19 on Feb 11 2020.
In the name of the disease COVID-19, CO stands for
‘Corona’, VI stands for ‘Virus’ D stands for ‘Disease’.
This disease is the first time introduce in the year of
2019 that is why it is called COVID-19.
Again, this virus has not previously seen in humans so
it is also called “Novel corona virus”.
The SAR-COV is a member of the β-coronavirus sub-
group from coronaviridae family.
The virus having crown like spikes on the outer
surface of it that’s why we called as corona virus. Its
size ranging from 65 to 125 nm in diameter.
3. The effect of the virus is an acute lung jury and respiratory
distress syndrome that ultimately causes pulmonary failure
and causes a fatality.
The virus of COVID-19 is transmitted through contact with
respiratory droplets instead of air.
The main spreading way of this virus is through respiratory
droplets expelled by the person suffering from cold and
cough.
By touching these droplets present on the surface around
the person with COVID-19 is a strong reason for catching this
disease.
So it is very important to maintain a distance of around 1 m
(3 ft) away from person who is sick.
The symptoms of this disease are dry cough, fever, difficulty
in breathing. Infants, older people and those with medical
problems like high B.P., cancer, diabetes, heart problem,
asthma are more prone to develop this disease.
4. The lockdown facilitate enhanced free movement of animals never seen before on our roads
and wildlife rescue teams will suddenly have a lot of work outside when people are working
from home.
Streets that are devoid of movement tend to become safe havens for wildlife.
Due to movement restriction and a significant slowdown of social and economic activities, air
pollution, water pollution and various types of pollution had decreased.
Besides that as in the recent News the hole in the ozone layer has also been covered itself.
Now coming to the disadvantages there is an increase in biomedical waste.
5. Other than that as people use lots of masks, gloves and other safety equipment's to protect
themselves from the virus there is an increase in healthcare waste as they are normally
discarded after some usage. Due to this there is also increase in household’s hazardous
wastage.
6. During the period of lockdown across the world, the sight of the blue
sky created a sense of optimism among the people towards a clean
and better environment.
Before COVID-19, all over the world are being suffered by a high level
of urban air pollution especially in the form of CO2, SO2, NO2 and
particulate matter.
The major sources of pollution such as transport, industries, power
stations are responsible for the increased output of all these
pollutants.
From the time lockdown was imposed and people started practicing
Work From Home, a significant improvement in the weather was
witnessed.
A report of WHO indicates that almost 8% of total death in the world
is due to air pollution.
Many respiratory diseases such as hypertension, heart attack,
cognitive and mental illness are already triggered by air pollution.
The only difference is that those diseases may not be as immediately
lethal as COVID-19 and not transmitted by person to person.
It has been established that before COVID-19, emission of CO2 was
raised by 1% per year over the previous decade.
The positive effect of lockdown is to decrease the CO2 emission by
−17% (−11 to −25%) by 7th April 2020 with respect to the mean level
Impact of Lockdown on the Environment
7. Apart from unemployment and other social
and economic impacts, the pandemic has
proved a double-edged sword for the
environment. I
It has given rise to the volume of unrecyclable
waste, massive cuts in agriculture, and fishery
export levels, resulting in unshipped organic
waste. As a result, levels of methane (CH4)
emissions have increased.
Negative impacts on the Environment
8. The air quality in major cities across the world
improved dramatically during March and April.
As economic activities came to a halt, factory and
road traffic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2),
nitrogen oxides (NOx) and related ozone (O3)
formation, and particulate matter (PM) dropped
significantly.
Data from the Sentinel-5P satellite reveals that
nitrogen dioxide levels have dipped in Europe since
the pandemic.
Besides, people are reporting seeing the Himalayas
for the first time from their homes.
While the pandemic has been devastating for
thousands of migrant workers in
India, Delhi witnessed a reduction of over 70%
in PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide levels.
Facts and Figures
9. Clean rivers, pure air, and a lasting quietness give
peace to everyone.
The lockdown not only saves our earth but also
provides temporary relief to nature and
the wildlife which plays a great role in our
ecosystem.
As we all know the cases of coronavirus continue
to multiply around the globe.
It is important to take care of yourself and your
family.
The current lockdown gives animals a chance
to regain their independence without human
interference.
Another concern is poaching. Lack of human
activity gives more opportunities for
undetected poaching.
In many countries, lack of work may lead to
poaching as a way to survive. an interest in
wildlife conservation.
10. Scientists around the world are getting an unprecedented opportunity to study the impact of
humans on wildlife. This research will lead to new discoveries, which should aid
conservationist’s efforts to protect and support wildlife.
it’s also led to drastic decreases in wildlife conservation funding in many areas. With the
economy on hold along with travel, wildlife conservation might be seen as a low priority. As
most relief efforts focus on humans, and conservation may pay the price.
There’s also a drastic reduction of money from wildlife tourism because of the lockdown. Many
countries fund their wildlife conservation programs with funds from tourism.
Many parks and preserves remain closed during this time, and the ones that are open are less
crowded.
This might be good for wildlife, but it presents a problem for those who rely on the profits to
fund conservation efforts.
It presents an amazing opportunity to learn more about animal behavior and the impact of
humans and some serious challenges.
Impacts on Wildlife Conservation
11. civet was seen in Kozhikode(Kerala), dolphins
were spotted in the sea off Mumbai, deers
enjoyed a walk in human habitats and
elephants enjoyed their walk-in train lines and
highways.
The picture of our earth is like that we are
getting back to the old days where animals can
live freely and enjoy their freedom.
No more harassment to animals.
As humans are locked in their homes because
of the pandemic virus while animals take back
the world.
It’s surprising and a clear reminder of how
quickly the wild world responds when humans
take a step back and our ecosystem can
rebound.
12. The absence of humans led to animals to increase. For example in
Florida beach closures led to a 39% increase in nesting success for
loggerhead turtles.
Ocean fishing fell by 12%.
Fewer animals were killed by vehicles, strikes on road and in water.
Ocean noise which is known as disrupt to variety marine animals,
dropped dramatically in many places. For example: Nanaimo
Harbour in British Columbia (known for it’s busy noise pollution
which may kill marine animals) which fell by 86%.
Some zoo animals are making the most of the benefit due to covid-
19. Example: in Ocean Park in Hong Kong, it is thought that Ying
Ying, one of the resident pandas, maybe pregnant after 10 years of
attempts at natural mating.
Positive Effects On Animals Due To Covid-19:
13. In many places illegal hunting and fishing increased as poor, desperate
people looked for ways to compensate for lost income or food.
In many places hikers expanded their trails which destroyed the
habitats.
Failures to remove invasive mice from remote seabird nesting islands
could lead to the loss of more than two million chicks this year alone.
Zoo animals are getting sick and missing humans attention as most of
them were raised by humans.
Negative Effects On Animals Due to Covid-19:
THEY
NEED
OUR
HELP!!!
14. Will this Change Last?
There is no doubt that the effect of the
shutdown will be short-lived.
The emissions will return to normal once
people to their normal lives.
As the crisis resolves, the economic activities
will resume, and the emission levels will rise
once again to the average level or maybe
higher.
History tells us that the emission reduction
after recession rebounds to wipe out all the
gains.
