As people across the globe stay home to stop the spread of the new Coronavirus, the air has cleaned up, albeit temporarily.
People are also noticing animals in places and at times they don’t usually.
When people stay home, Earth becomes cleaner and wilder.
Researchers are tracking dramatic drops in traditional air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, smog and tiny particles. These types of pollution kill up to 7 million people a year worldwide.
Compared to the previous five years, March air pollution is down 46% in Paris, 35% in Bengaluru, India, 38% in Sydney, 29% in Los Angeles, 26% in Rio de Janeiro and 9% in Durban, South Africa, NASA measurements show.
Cleaner air has been most noticeable in India and China. On April 3, residents of Jalandhar, a city in north India’s Punjab, woke up to a view not seen for decades: snow-capped Himalayan peaks more than 100 miles away.
Cleaner air means stronger lungs for asthmatics, especially children, says Dr. Mary Prunicki, director of air pollution and health research at the Stanford University School of Medicine. And she notes early studies also link Coronavirus severity to people with bad lungs and those in more polluted areas, though it’s too early to tell which factor is stronger.
Stanford’s Field says he’s most intrigued by increased urban sightings of coyotes, pumas and other wildlife that are becoming video social media staples.
“There’s some silver lining for wildlife in what otherwise is a fairly catastrophic time for humans,” he says.
