Every cloud, it is said, comes with a silver lining. And as clouds go, the Covid-19 pandemic is a pretty big one. To respond to it, we’ve had to make drastic changes to our way of life. Some of these changes have had side-effects, and not all of them have been unpleasant. You might have seen videos on social media of wild animals roaming through deserted city streets, accompanied by Gaianist captions like ‘nature is healing’.
So exactly where are the plus points of less frequent travel?
Pollution
As you might guess, fewer vehicles on the road means cleaner air. In China, researchers have predicted that up to 100,000 premature deaths could be prevented if the economic slowdown persists for year. Closer to home, major British cities like London have experienced an appreciable improvement in air quality when it comes to NO2, offset slightly by an uptick in airborne particulates caused by gas hobs and cooking appliances.
An arresting illustration of this effect comes courtesy of satellite imagery, which reveals a remarkable drop in airborne CO2 across the European mainland. It is an unprecedented reversal of a gloomy trend.
Community Spirit
You might think that being confined indoors for months on end would lead to a sense of isolation – and in many cases, that’s so. But there’s also been a marked uptick in community activities. Given that we’re only allowed to exercise for a limited time, and only in the local area, we’re seeing more of our neighbours than ever before – and many of us have set up grassroots volunteer organisations to help vulnerable neighbours with everyday tasks like shopping.
What happens next?
The lockdown isn’t going to last forever, however much it might seem like it will. As such, we’ll eventually have the opportunity to revert to our previous behaviour. But having taken stock of the plus-points of staying put, we might hesitate before going about our business as before. Among the changes we might consider is a less polluting choice of transport. Where it’s possible to walk or cycle to work, we should do so – and we should also bear in mind the environmental costs per mile travelled in a plane, car or train. Overall, train tends to be far less polluting. You can travel from Brighton to Clapham Junction far more quickly and cleanly if you’re on a train. Thus, if we want to limit our carbon emissions in the future, it’s a form of transport we should investigate.
