Environmental impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the world and Iran

Document Type : Original Research Article

Author

Department of Geology, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University,Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The coronavirus disease or the so-called Covid-19 is a highly transmittable and pathogenic viral infection which emerged in Wuhan, China and spread rapidly around the world. The virus has resulted in about 4.2 million infections and 280,000 deaths (as of 10 May, 2020). Covid-19 is affecting not only health, economy, culture and life style but also it is going to affect the ecosystems and environment of the world. The ideas about role of this crisis in ecosystem and environment are quite different. Optimists believe that this crisis is the best opportunity to reduce pressure on natural resources and provides time for self-reconstruction of the ecosystems and environment. The pessimist, on the other hand, state that the positive effects of Covid-19 on the environment is not much and would diminish soon, and the earth is hurtling towards a catastrophe worse than the dinosaur extinction. The most positive impacts of this crisis are reduced pressure on natural resources, decreasing in air pollution and climate change, deeper understanding of the ecosystems and environment saving. The significant negative impacts of this crisis are human infection and death, billions USD in economic losses, increasing in household consumption, medicine, faces masks and medical gloves and challenge for burial of household and medical waste, reduction in environmental diplomacy, reduction in accuracy of weather forecasts and treat for wildlife infection. Iran is the home to the second most infected and recovered cases (up to 75%) after China. Several impacts have been reported on the human and natural environment of Iran. The virus has resulted in about 108,000 infections and 6,700 deaths (as of 10 May, 2020). In response to coronavirus, the government cancelled public events such as Friday prayers, festival celebrations, and sporting events, as well as closed schools, universities, shopping centers, bazaars, and even holy shrines. Consequently, the spread of infection is relatively controlled from over 200 to about 40 deaths per day. The impacts on the ecosystems and environment of Iran are similar to that reported in other parts of the world.

Keywords

Main Subjects


  1. -Amazonaws, 2020. http//com.ft.imagepublish.upp-prod-us.s3.amazonaws.png
  2. -Conticini, E., Frediani, B. and Caro, D., 2020. Can atmospheric pollution be considered a co-factor in extremely high level of SARS-CoV-2 lethality in Northern Italy?. Environmental pollution. p.114465.
  3. -Damian Carrington Environment, 2020. Air pollution linked to far higher Covid-19 death rates, study finds. The Guardian, ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2020-04-09.
  4. -Chen, G., Zhang, W., Li, S., Zhang, Y., Williams, G., Huxley, R., Ren, H., Cao, W. and Guo, Y., 2017. The impact of ambient fine particles on influenza transmission and the modification effects of temperature in China: a multi-city study. Environment international, 98, pp.82-88.
  5. -Green Matthew, 2020. Air pollution clears in northern Italy after coronavirus lockdown, satellite shows. Reuters. Archived from the original on 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  6. -Guan, W.J., Ni, Z.Y., Hu, Y., Liang, W.H., Ou, C.Q., He, J.X., Liu, L., Shan, H., Lei, C.L., Hui, D.S. and Du, B., 2020. Clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 in China, New England journal of medicine, 382(18), pp.1708-1720.
  7. -IEA, 2020, Put clean energy at the heart of stimulus plans to counter the coronavirus crisis – Analysis, International Energy Agency, Archived from the original on 2020-04-02.
  8. -IRNA, 2020, Iran News Agency, www.irna.ir
  9. -McMahon, J., 2020. Study: coronavirus lockdown likely saved 77,000 lives in China just by reducing pollution, Forbes. http://www .forbes.com
  10. -MHME, 2020. Ministry of Health and Medical Education (Iran), http://www.behdasht.gov.ir
  11. -Myllyvirta, L., 2020. Analysis: Coronavirus has temporarily reduced China's CO2 emissions by a quarter. Carbon Brief, Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved, 16 March 2020.
  12. -NASA, 2020. Airborne nitrogen dioxide plummets over China. http://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov. 2020-02-28. Archived from the original on 2020-04-02.
  13. -Newburger, E., 2020. Coronavirus could weaken climate change action and hit clean energy investment, researchers warn. CNBC, Archived from the original on 15 March 2020.
  14. Shereen, M.A., Khan, S., Kazmi, A., Bashir, N. and Siddique, R., 2020. COVID-19 infection: origin, transmission, and characteristics of human coronaviruses. Journal of Advanced Research, On press.
  15. -Srikanth, A., 2020. As Italy quarantines over coronavirus, swans appear in Venice canals, dolphins swim up playfully, The Hill, and Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved, 20 March, 2020.
  16. -TGC, 2020. Thrive Global Community, https://lovingparents.in/environmental/positive-impact-of-coronavirus-on-environment.
  17. -TPWW, 2020. Tehran Province Water and Waterwaste, https://www.tpww.ir
  18. -Izvorski, I., Sandeep, M., Lalita, M., and Gallina, A.V., 2020. A policy framework for mitigating the economic impact of Covid-19, future-development, 2020/03/20, www.brookings.edu.
  19. -UNEP, 2020. United Nation Environmental Protection, www.unenvironment.org
  20. -Julian, W.T., 2009. The effect of environmental parameters on the survival of airborne infectious agents, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2009.0227.focus.
  21. -WHO, 2020, World Health Organization, https://www.who.org
  22. -Wright, R., 2020. How Iran became a new epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. The New Yorker, https://www.newyorker.com
  23. -Watts, J., and Kommenda, N., 2020. Coronavirus pandemic leading to huge drop in air pollution, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com, Archived from the original on 4 April 2020.
  24. -Yaffe-Bellany, D., 2020. 1,000 Workers, Go Home: Companies Act to Ward Off Coronavirus. The New York Times, https://www.newyorker.com, Archived from the original on 4 March 2020.
  25. -Yazdi,M,. 2020. Negative impacts of coronavirus in human and natural environment of Iran. https://www.irna.ir/news/83734490/, (in Persian).