Is Pandemic COVID-19 able to reduce environmental quality?

COVID 19 pandemic has made people around the world worry. Although the impact of COVID-19 was so great, behind the pandemic, the side effects made the blue sky and clear water in Venice to Beijing, Los Angeles to Bangalore

Improved air quality and the global environment are an unexpected impact of the economic slowdown caused by the Corona Virus pandemic COVID-19. This virus has pushed the wheels of the global economy to almost stop when the pandemic hit the world. The number of factories closed and cars parked in the garage, causing air pollution to subside in a number of cities in the world. As in the capital city of China, Beijing, known for its toxic levels that choke the lungs, has an unusual view of the clear sky because factories in the region are stopping production.

Satellite images from the European Space Agency (ESA) show reduced levels of nitrogen dioxide, a by-product of burning fossil fuels which causes respiratory problems. The scene was seen in all major cities on the continent including Paris, Madrid, and Rome when the countries locked down and restricted travel prevented the spread of COVID-19.

The international environmental organization Greenpeace said COVID-19 had a negative impact on trade and the economy. But there are positive effects for the Earth because the industrial activity is restrained, industrial pollution is reduced, and the quality of the environment increases.

Specifically in Jakarta, work from home (WFH) policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as intense rainfall, have improved the capital's air quality. "The rain that fell in Jabodetabek also helped wash the atmosphere from pollution," said Head of the Jakarta Environment Agency, Andono Warih.

Twitter/Ryan_Nus

Based on monitoring at five Air Quality Monitoring Stations (SPKU) managed by the DKI Jakarta Environment Office, the results show improvements in air quality, especially decreasing concentrations of PM 2.5 parameters during WFH application. However, WFH is not a single factor to improve Jakarta's air quality. "This decrease is also consistent with the level of rainfall. When rainfall is high, the PM 2.5 parameter concentration shows a decrease and when the days are not raining, the PM 2.5 parameter concentration increases slightly," he said.

In addition, the wind direction also affects the pollutants of this type of PM 2.5 or fine dust particles measuring 25 micrograms / m³. AirVisual Air Quality Index (AQI) monitoring on April 2 at 20.25 WIB shows that Jakarta is ranked 33rd in the order of highly polluted cities, which means Jakarta's air quality is better than 32 other cities in the world, with the Air Quality Index ( AQI) at number 64


Source: https://www.liputan6.com