The media is known for relaying the worst news and ignoring the positive changes happening in the world. As coronavirus spreads globally and violence over racial injustice erupts in the U.S., the media continues to focus on the negative - the potential spike in COVID-19 cases, the impassioned protests, how many points the DOW has dropped, and the impending economic depression. I am overwhelmed each time I pause to glance at the news. It is virtually impossible not to receive some form of update on the devastation that currently embraces society, whether through social media or alerts on our phones. In light of heartening the mood, I would like to share something positive that is surfacing during this worldwide pandemic. I do not mean to detract from the gravity of the problems we are currently facing, but to open our minds for a brief minute to the things that can provide us a semblance of hope and happiness.

China was the first nation to implement a country-wide quarantine which started in February and lasted into April. Wuhan, the birthplace of COVID-19, had been in a strict quarantine since before that time. Wuhan is a metropolis of 11 million people, located in Eastern China. It is a thriving city, with the Yangtze river flowing directly through its center. With a city this large, there is no doubt that air pollution is one of the largest environmental challenges in the region. Before the coronavirus quarantine, Wuhan experienced high levels of nitrogen dioxide, a type of greenhouse gas that is formed from the emissions of cars, factories, and power plants. Each year, the levels of nitrogen dioxide decrease around Wuhan and other regions of China during the months of late January and early February. Scientists believe this annual reduction in nitrogen dioxide during these months is a response to the closure of businesses for the Chinese Lunar New Year. Experts at NASA have tracked the nitrogen dioxide levels around Wuhan since 2004, and have noticed that 2020 is the first year to show a continual reduction of the greenhouse gas to persist past the Lunar New Year. Typically, the nitrogen dioxide levels return to their previous state around the end of February, but this year the levels remained extremely low all throughout February and well into March. The photo below depicts this finding (NASA): 

This image amazed me when I first saw it posted on NASA’s website. Not only have the levels of nitrogen dioxide decreased drastically, but they have diminished to the point of non-existence. It’s truly exciting to see how quickly the levels of this greenhouse gas have gone down in the span of just several weeks of a lockdown. This photo shows the effects of the strict quarantine in Wuhan, during which citizens were not allowed to leave their homes for many weeks, exemplifying the intensity of the relationship between human activity and air pollution. 

This photo is hopeful, particularly in the environmental world. We currently live in a country whose President refutes climate change and claims that humans are not responsible for the warming of the world. It is endlessly frustrating to have the leader of such a powerful country disregard the influence of human activity on our climate. He has changed EPA guidelines and rolled back over 90 environmental regulations that keep our world safe and healthy. That’s why I find such hope in this photo of nitrogen dioxide levels. Despite its simplicity, we are able to see the direct correlation between humans and the orange coloring of nitrogen dioxide. We, as humans, are responsible for the state of our world and this image proves it. Luckily, nature bounces back extremely quickly, sometimes in just a matter of weeks. Just as the media spits out negative news, any news related to climate change is typically gloomy as well. There needs to be some hope for people to push forward, for us to see the light at the end of the tunnel. For me, the fact that nature can return to its previous state so quickly is the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope that it can be a beacon of hope for others as well.

Sources: 

• https://earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/articles/feature-articles/health-and-air-quality-articles/find-no2-data

• https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146362/airborne-nitrogen-dioxide-plummets-over-china#:~:text=NASA%20and%20European%20Space%20Agency,following%20the%20outbreak%20of%20coronavirus.