EFFECTS OF POLLUTION AND CLIMATIC CHANGES ON COVID- 19

EFFECTS OF POLLUTION AND CLIMATIC CHANGES ON COVID- 19

Corona virus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered corona virus. Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness. The COVID-19 virus spreads through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it is important that you practice respiratory etiquette and maintain social distancing and physical distancing to prevent it. So inorder to achieve this, world in its way to fight against this pandemic, it has announced lockdown which emerged as a key in fighting the virus in effective way.

                       So as this pandemic of COVID 19 caused industrial activity to shut down and cancelled flights and other journeys and laid financial markets into free fall, but it was effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution around the world, thus the positive thing it offered is an air that we might breathe in a low – carbon future. It has also given residents in some of the world’s most polluted cities something that they have not experienced in past few years i.e. clean air.

 EFFECT OF COVID-19 ON LUNGS AND POLLUTION TRIGGERED RESPIRATORY ILLNESS :

LUNGS: ‘these exquisite machines, containers of air that just kind of blow life giving oxygen into the blood through a thin wall membrane. It is the thinness and suppleness of our lung walls that enables them to expand and contract and pass oxygen smoothly and makes breathing so effortless. But, what so elegant about it is that, the membrane is so thin and delicate that the covid-19 virus when enters ,it does inflame the membrane, making them thin delicate walls of the human. In these cases, suddenly the lung gets really stiff and instead of it being really easy to get enough oxygen in, it requires tremendous work to do it. Sometimes that even leads to patients needing a ventilator to breathe for the.

          Its not just the covid that affects human lungs this way. Many of the respiratory    diseases do including those triggered by air pollution have an effect. In fact, air pollution kills many more. It is just the triggers are non communicable like that of cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, heart attack, stroke, lung and respiratory diseases, cancers, diabetes and cognitive and mental illness. In fact , even when its doesn’t actually trigger these diseases, air pollution ends up compromising and weakening the human lungs, making us more vulnerable to respiratory viruses like the SARS, MERS and  the novel – corona virus.

         The only difference is that some of those diseases may not be as immediately lethal as covid and more importantly they don’t spread in bunched up clusters. But their naturally flatter curve doesn’t mean they kill fewer people. 

            A 2003 study of the outbreak of SARS the closest of the corona virus found that death rates in China’s most polluted areas were twice as high as in the least polluted ones.

AIRBORNE PARTICLES:

            Airborne particles increase susceptibility to infection in those who encounter the pathogen. Thus not only the people living with poor air quality are more susceptible to this disease, but also airborne particulate matter can potentially facilitate spreading the virus. Airborne particulate or PM (particulate matter) is a mix of organic and chemical particles that include solids or liquids such as dust, soot, smoke, aerosols, fumes, mists and condensing vapours that are suspended in the air for extended periods of time, which can aggravate respiratory illnesses when inhaled. Some of the particulate matters are so small and light that, these fine particles tend to stay longer in the air than heavier particles. One such example is PM2.5 which seems to be very dangerous. PM2.5 refers to the size-2.5 microns or smaller, which can cause graver irreversible health ailments like breathing problems, burning sensation in eyes. And also these Microparticulates like PM2.5 and PM10 are so tiny that they enter our bloodstream, thus travelling to every organ and causing oxidative stress and inflammation.

              The world health organization  (WHO) estimates  that about 3 million people die each year from ailments caused by air pollution, and that more than 80% of people living in urban areas are exposed to air quality levels that exceed safe limits. In late January and February 2020, levels of nitrogendioxide (NO2)over cities and industrial areas in Asia and Europe were lower than in the same period in 2019, by as much as 40%.Most NO2 comes from road transport and power plants, and it can exacerbate respiratory illnesses such as asthma, It also makes symptoms worse for those  who are suffering from lung or he

These are examples of countries- showing impact of pollution, before and during lockdown period:

CHINA: 

In china there was a massive decrease in particulate matter pollution due to the corona virus lockdown, over the first few months oart illness.f this year, when compared to the past few years. And also the death rates which occur due to air pollution decreased by 30% and nitrogen dioxide, a gas emitted by cars, power plants and factories fell by 40% over Chinese cities.

Nitrate aerosols are formed from nitrogen compounds, which can be emitted by human activities by burning fuels. Ground station metrics in Wuhan, where the pandemic originated, show how certain pollutants including nitrogen dioxide were at record lows during the first few months of the year.

The maps below show how levels of PM2.5 nitrate fell in china Hubei province after the government imposed travel restrictions. 

NEWYORK:

In New York as a result of corona virus pandemic, the emissions of variety of gases related to energy and transport has reduced drastically. Traffic levels in the city were estimated to be down 35% compared with a year ago, emissions of  carbon monoxide mainly due to cars and trucks have fallen around 50%. They also found that there was solid drop in CO2 and methane as well

EUROPE:

In Europe, researchers say the drop in pollution has prevented 11,000 premature deaths every year due to pollution .But also stated  a study that of 66 European regions found that 78% corona  deaths occurred in just 5 areas, all heavily polluted by NO2 .So, there is a need to control pollution more effectively. 

They also found that many ethnic minorities are dying from COVID 19 in higher numbers, as many minority communities are disadvantages in urban areas and face heavy exposure to air pollution.

INDIA:  

In India lockdown has a great impact on the pollution in many states.

In India, where air pollution is among the  world’s worst. “People are reporting seeing the Himalayas for the first time from where they live and the lag tang range is visible from Kathmandu during the sixth day of the nationwide corona virus lockdown  in Nepal in March month.

INDIA GATE WAR MEMORIAL IN NEW DELHI: In the capital new delhi , where air is normally chocking , levels of both PM2.5 and the harmful gas nitrogen dioxide fell more than 70%. Even there are reports that smog was decreased to 80% giving the clearer view of the INDIA GATE.

 INDIA GATE WAR MEMORIAL NEW DELHI

Experts say that we have to tackle climate change during the recovery from corona virus, during the pandemic; as pollution has plummeted across the world. So they state as the government is pumping trillions of stimulus money into their economies during the pandemic, instead the money should go to expert industries. There is opportunity to put these funds straight into jobs that will accelerate the pace of decarbonization. Renewable energy sources like ( solar energy, biomass energy, hydroelectric power, wind energy, geothermal energy) which is cheaper in most places than fossil fuels should be used ,not only in electrically sector but also moving into the transportation sector.

Measures taken by different countries around the world to tackle pollution after lockdown:

• Scientists says we must take effective steps to limit pollution as lockdown lifts or else there could  be a chance to exacerbate a second wave of virus.
• From Paris to Bogota, cities are expanding bike lanes to deter driving and France has announced to  pay for bike repairs and cycling lessons  after lockdown. This is done to encourage more cycling, and by cuttings crowds on public transport were more cyclists could help keep pollution levels down.
• The Paris, region is building 750km more bike lanes for long-distance commuters and bike paths along these 3 busiest metro lines including Brussels, Bogota and Milan.
• The Italian city is also cutting metro capacity by 30% to keep passengers 1 meter apart.
• Pakistan is paying people out of work in the pandemic to plant trees .construction workers can now earn $3a day planting saplings which is not only helping them to feed their families and also helping to keep the economy running during lockdown, but also by planting trees it could merely help in future to tackle pollution to an extent. All these could reduce the risk of second wave of covid-19 to an effective level.
• Many countries are turning the 35km of busy urban streets into new cycle routes and streets to switch priority from cars to pedestrian and cyclists. And also wider sidewalks which allow people to practice social distancing.
• The one of the solution of reducing pollution due to vehicles could be achieved permanently for air quality, if car use was phased down and replaced with electrically powered mass transit. Electrifying transport in this way, with expanded train lines and more electric cars and bikes with charging stations, would putdown pipe emission of air pollutants such as NO2.
• Reducing monthly NO2 emissions from electricity generation by 10% would be the equivalent of turning off 500 coal power stations for a year.

CONCLUSION:

As the people are more likely to contract respiratory diseases like covid if they live in polluted areas, because of high levels of pollution lower the body’s natural defenses against airborne viruses and also as  the current levels of air pollution  that covid patients are exposed to will add to the severity of the disease there should be effective measures taken to prevent these. The decline in pollution is sure to be temporary process, to get healthier air for longer term, means shifting to clean energy and transportation which should become part of our daily life. Even a temporarily cleaner air can help flatten the curve of the pandemic, easing the burden on health care systems by reducing the number of the people who experience severe covid-19 symptoms. But this could be better if it becomes a life time thing. So government should focus on improving different measures to tackle pollution by use of bikes that run on electricity and use of renewable energy sources like solar energy, wind energy which can be replenished sooner than  fossil fuels  like coal, petroleum and natural gas, planting of trees and encouraging  people to take cycles or sidewalks and use  of transport only when needed and should be effective to  implement  fines if they violates the rules. Not  only the governments but also  the people should become aware of these large reductions and should be appreciated , so there would be implementation of the stricter pollution policies , not only by the environmental groups, policy makers even the general  voters should speak in reducing this effects. Only with the stricter standards together with strengthened implementation and enforcement of policies implemented  could save many lives. 

P. Sowmya Papagari,

Pharm D intern,

Sowmyapapagari123@gmail.com