In The Air: COVID Now, CO2 Later

At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, there was a significant drop in carbon emissions and pollution due to people being stuck at home. People believed  that the economy shutting down would greatly improve air quality. Though the air quality is okay right now, there is the harsh reality that COVID-19 will have lasting negative impacts on the environment as people and the economy try to make up for lost time. 

NASA has taken the stay-at-home time to study nitrogen dioxide, one of the  major pollutants playing a role in climate change, using satellites. Images reveal that the average release of the pollutant in southern states of the U.S. were higher between March and April of 2019 than during those months of 2020. Though this was the case during the quarantine period in many states, we can now see that there is already a spike in pollutants in the air as many travel restrictions have been lifted. When looking at other countries hit hard by the virus, China is already showing signs of spikes in pollution. China was one of the first countries to go into lockdown, and one of the first to reopen. There was a dramatic improvement of air quality in China during lockdown, but since reopening the pollution levels have returned to pre-virus levels (Xinhua), giving a good example of how countries across the globe will also rebound as they begin to reopen. 

One of the worries that may play into the pollution rebound in the U.S. is an increase in traffic. Now as well as post-pandemic, more people will want to avoid public transportation in order to remain socially distant. As of June, traffic has already risen to ninety percent of pre-pandemic traffic, and in 22 states, traffic numbers were exceeding those of pre-pandemic (Shaver). This is likely due to summer weather drawing more people out of their homes, and states lifting many of their stay-at-home restrictions. People whose jobs cannot be remote are returning to work. There is still pretty well flowing traffic right now, as people who have the ability to work from home are remaining to do so. Traffic is not at the same level that it was before the start of quarantine, but it reaching ninety percent of pre-pandemic traffic levels shows that people in the United States are trying to return to normalcy.

Aside from restrictions lifting throughout the country, there has been a lack of governmental support for the environment during the pandemic. The Trump Administration “suspended enforcement of air and water pollution regulations, curtailed states’ ability to block energy projects, and suspended a requirement for environmental review and public input on new mines, pipelines, highways, and other projects” (Xinhua). The U.S. government is also funding industries that are known for causing heavy pollution such as fossil fuels, automobile companies and airlines (Xinhua). It can be argued that there is less of a need for the enforcement of pollution regulations right now, while we are seeing a drop in carbon emissions, but for the future when more people return to work, this will cause issues. With these cutbacks, it would not be surprising to see a higher release of carbon emissions in the U.S. post-pandemic. It seems that this slowed down economy should be the chance to make environmental improvements, but instead people and industries and planning for a huge economic bounce-back. With these worries of increase in carbon emissions, it seems ideal to keep workers as remote as possible to reduce the need to travel.

Works Cited

Goldbaum, Elizabeth. “NASA Probes Environment, COVID-19 Impacts, Possible Links.” NASA, NASA, 29 Apr. 2020, www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-probes-environment-covid-19-impacts-possible-links. 

Shaver, Katherine. “U.S. Traffic Has Rebounded to about 90 Percent of Pre-Pandemic Levels, Analysts Say.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 19 June 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/us-traffic-has-rebounded-to-about-90-percent-of-pre-pandemic-levels-analysts-say/2020/06/19/5f498cce-b190-11ea-8758-bfd1d045525a_story.html.  

Xinhua, Photograph by Yang Shiyao. “Why COVID-19 Will End up Harming the Environment.” National Geographic, 2 July 2020, www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/06/why-covid-19-will-end-up-harming-the-environment/.