With those Corona Space Suits, humans now look like aliens on Earth, as told by P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar. Strict health rules, never-ending lockdowns, businesses large and small are severely constrained, and most importantly, we humans, who started it all, have suffered as a result of our tragedies. Unfortunately, people can not get a job due to the economy on a downfall. Students struggle in school due to online learning. Elderly and clinically ill people struggle to make ends meet, and medical front liner risking their lives to treat COVID-19 patients all have their battles every day.

So who is the enemy? We can't blame anyone; hence we all struggle. Despite all of the negatives, some positive events occurred that to our surprise. We never thought it would uplift us up in such a depressing moment. As the strict health protocols became stricter, people are forced to stay home; as the never-ending lockdowns occurred, little by little, inch by inch, vines of mother nature started to reach out. Our nature, battered by human intervenes, started to recover upon itself.

When humanity choked, nature breathed. Never once in our lives have we ever thought of nature encompassing our steadily growing community. We always have a busy road, crowded parks, and an overall self-sustaining community. Park has personnel constantly trimming grasses and cutting trees to appeal to more aesthetics. We keep the wildlife at bay. Yet during the COVID-19 Pandemic, lockdowns, and strict health protocols, the once busy roads and crowded parks are now desolate. In some places, where human activities overwhelm nature got to see a new atmosphere ever since the effect of strict health protocols hindered human presence. So how did the COVID-19 pandemic affect nature and wildlife?

It is just a scratch from the surface.

As the number of instances of the devastating virus (COVID -19) increased, the entire world changed accordingly, with quarantines and lockdowns limiting human mobility. As a result, all economic advances, commercial concerns, and industrial processes came to a standstill to prevent the virus from spreading through physical contact. Protocols established by government agencies played a critical influence in reducing global energy demand. On the surface, we saw that our overall carbon emission dramatically reduced during these times.

In some areas, the outdoor air we crave is cleaner than it was before the pandemic. While shutdowns have resulted in lower emissions of pollutants associated with travel and business activity, other sources of air pollution have remained unchanged or even grown. Household power usage has skyrocketed, and consumption habits have evolved due to our new, more intensively domestic lifestyle.

Our daily global CO2 emissions decreased by –17% by early April 2020 compared with the mean 2019 levels, just under half from changes in surface transport. At their peak, emissions in individual countries decreased by –26% on average. Scientists estimated that our 2020 annual emissions have a low estimate of –4%, and a high estimate of –7% with some restrictions remain worldwide. The actions of our governments and economic incentives post-crisis influence the global CO2 emissions path for a decade. To our surprise, events of various scales happened.

The gardens grow anew.

When was the last time you remembered you unknowingly carved something on a bamboo? One of the events so little any passing person will surely miss. Here is bamboo that grew up during the pandemic without the effect of tourism (see Reddit snip above). Of course, such acts are undesirable to any tourist spot, much more to nature as these often lead to lasting damage. With so many countries and areas relying on tourism, one cannot deny that the recent months with no tourists have had a significant impact on their own.

Forests and Parks experience a breathing moment. Wild lives are prevalent. It's a simple occurrence that shows the broader picture of everything since it speaks deep into the magnitude of human existence; wherever one looks, every nook and cranny, we can see our traces, whether it's something wanted of nature or not. The picture of the untainted bamboo shows how much our presence hinders nature. It could be a little poetic in its way that a thing so untainted and pure is unaware of the misfortunes of its past ancestors.

We see amazing natural miracles as lockdown hits due to pandemics. Although it may exist for such a short period, nature affirms that it can readily adapt to changing human behaviors. Besides, it does not require us to live. Nature heals itself as we cower to our home in the pandemic. It would be prudent to imagine the times once the epidemic ends and free to resume our lives. If we want to progress as a civilization and live in harmony with the environment, we must find a method to protect it and help it survive. Let the pandemic remind us that nature never needs us, but we need it to survive. It does not have to involve our economic demise; it only requires reasonable constraints and prudent resource use.

Clouds' breakthrough shows something awe.

Amidst busy India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Bhutan, and Nepal lies the Himalayas Mountain Ranges. Western alpine shrubs and meadows, Broadleaf, and coniferous forests thrive on extreme temperatures, added rivers, and glaciers. But these enormous mountain ranges are more known for their tallest peak, Mount Everest, which peaked at 29,029 ft.

The locals and bypassing tourists overlooked the beauty of the Himalayas Mountain Ranges since it is shrouded with smog and air pollution daily. Nepal is a developing country, and its neighboring countries like India and China produce a considerable amount of energy, and the air pollution it gives off is tremendous. Powerful industries, factories, and power plants automobiles have high carbon emissions and air pollutants, which envelope the skies. It hides the beautiful mountain ranges, which surround them.

For the first time in decades, mother nature gracefully showcased her beauty. When lockdown significantly reduced smog and carbon emission, It depicts how much beauty we can see without pollution. It boggles the mind how vast the Himalayas Mountain Range given the forced perspective. People in Jalandhar can see the Himalayas from their rooftop! The shutdown has reduced air pollution to the point where residents in Punjab can see the Himalayas from several of its cities. The Himalayan range is more than 100 miles distant from Punjab. Its appearance struck people in awe. India can see the Himalayas now for the first time since the 70s.

So much can be said in a sentence, the Industrial Age did progress dramatically that it helped us progress faster, but sadly to a painful trade-off. With the world shut down due to the lockdown, we saw what nature is and how we screwed it up.

Conclusion

Nature provided us the necessity we could consume to survive, yet as greedy as we are. We abuse it. Our overexploitation of natural resources results in their depletion. Maybe, coronavirus is a nature warning shot for us. Nature provided itself an opportunity to replenish itself.

We have a lot of troubles during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Our economy tumbles, and our healthcare system is overwhelmed. We are locked in our houses like how wild in zoos. But everything happened for a reason and has a silver lining, it gave us a deeper perspective into the human presence and our role to preserve our natural resources. We need to check how we interact with nature. We need to have a balanced way to use our natural resources and not abuse them. We saw and continue to see that nature heals and affirms that they never need us without human activities. Our action should no left uncheck.

Miracles happen in the pandemic. For the first time in decades, nature, the entirety of it, experienced something that could hopefully take back what it deserved in the first place. Now, it is a matter of time that the pandemic ends and human presence reverts. Will something change? Who was hurt more, we or nature? I left you this question to ponder, who is the enemy? I hope it wasn't us.

Readings

1. Elena Passarello, Appreciating nature through the lens of lockdown

2. WWF, Nature and Pandemics: What causes a pandemic like COVID-19, and why is protecting nature fundamental to reducing the risk of future outbreaks?

3. Noah Diffenbaugh, Christopher Field, and Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, The COVID-19 lockdowns: a window into the Earth System

4. Justine Calma, Nature is not healing. Pollution was still a problem in 2020

5. Caitlin Hu, Natalie Gallón, Hira Humayun, Ingrid Formanek and Zamira Rahim, Can nature heal itself? What the pandemic has shown us

6. Kate Golembiewski, Did COVID-19 Heal Nature?

7. Karen Brandon, Earth Day in the pandemic: rethinking our relationship with nature

8. Katherine Bourzac, COVID-19 lockdowns had strange effects on air pollution across the globe

9. Rob Picheta, People in India can see the Himalayas for the first time in 'decades,' as the lockdown eases air pollution

10. Corinne Le Quéré, et. al., Temporary reduction in daily global CO2 emissions during the COVID-19 forced confinement

Photo Credit: Luca Campioni , Tumisu, and Tumisu