Page 60 - GHES-3-1

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
COVID-19 changed our world

obtained from continuous ambient air quality monitoring 19 lockdowns resulted in a significant decrease in NO
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stations in major Indian cities vis-à-vis the first and second levels, and reductions of up to 30% were observed globally
lockdown phases from March 25, 2020, to May 3, 2020, (NASA, 2020). O exerts differing effects depending on
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disclosed a notable decrease in pollutants. This decline its location at the ground level or the upper atmosphere:
in air PM was attributed to the cessation of industrial stratospheric O protects against UV rays but ground-
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activities, reduced traffic congestion, paused construction level O can be harmful. Increased O concentrations were
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work, and diminished human action. Specifically, PM with noted during the quarantine period and were linked to
a diameter of <2.5 µm decreased by 9 – 70%, and PM with decreased levels of the mix of nitrogen oxides because of
a diameter of <10 µm diminished by 20 – 68%. In addition, varied chemical reactions (Hashim et al., 2021; Martorell-
sulfur dioxide (SO ) levels dropped by 19 – 77%, and NO Marugán et al., 2021). Such decreases led to significant O
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levels fell by 20 – 87%. This temporary improvement in air increases in several regions: 183% in Chandigarh, India;
quality highlighted the environmental benefits of reduced 525% in Baghdad, Iraq; 56.3% in Spain; 14% in California,
industrial and vehicular activities during the lockdown. U.S.A.; and 49.8% in Wuhan, China (Fu et al., 2020).
Scholars believe that cars and aviation contribute
predominantly to emissions and respectively account 4.7.1. Impact of COVID-19 on forests
for almost 72% and 11% of the GHG emissions in the The National Wildlife Foundation has stated that paper
transportation sector (Henriques, 2020). constitutes 60% of school and university waste. In addition,
A study conducted by the University of West Georgia 16 trees are needed to produce one ton of paper, and
found that carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced recycling ten tons of paper saves about 100 barrels of crude
by ten tons if 100 students stopped traveling to school oil (Sun et al., 2008). E-learning reduces the need for paper
or university. State-imposed restrictions during the and consequently decreases the number of trees felled
COVID-19 outbreak resulted in significant reductions in across the world. It also lowers costs incurred by students
GHG emissions, approximating the extent noted in Italy by digitizing registration, administration, curricula, and
and China (CDP, 2020). China reported a nearly 25% study materials (Sun et al., 2008). A study conducted in the
drop in carbon emissions during this period (Myllyvirta, Netherlands found that e-learning reduced CO emissions
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2020). Airborne pollutants such as NO and CO also and decreased the carbon footprints of students and staff
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decreased in discrete regions (McMahon et al., 2020). members (Versteijlen et al., 2017). Moreover, e-learning
Wang et al. used the community multi-scale air quality helps to prevent the detrimental environmental effects of
model to assess pollutant reductions in China and found the annual discarding of 350 million printer cartridges
that limiting traffic and industrial activity helped but the that will take approximately 1,000 years to decompose
sole use of these measures was insufficient in improving (Sun et al., 2008).
air quality in poor weather conditions (Wang et al., 2020). However, some negative environmental outcomes were
The study emphasized the need to endeavor further to also noted during the COVID-19 pandemic: for instance,
achieve substantial reductions in air pollution. Another medical waste increased. Wuhan generated 240 metric tons
study conducted in Barcelona, Spain (Tobias et al., 2020), of biological waste daily at the peak of the outbreak peak,
observed decreased air pollution during the outbreak and 6 times its average quantity (Zuo, 2020). Plastic medical
reported notable reductions in Black Carbon and NO . masks made from polypropylene further exacerbated
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However, PM with a diameter of <10 µm evinced only environmental problems because their decomposition
a minor decrease, and increased O levels were reported poses problems (CDP, 2020; Robert, 2020; https://www.
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because of reduced nitrogen oxide titration of O . who.int/news/item/01-02-2022-tonnes-of-covid-19-
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NO is a highly reactive pollutant produced from the health-care-waste-expose-urgent-need-to-improve-waste-
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combustion of carbon fuels, primarily from vehicular management-systems).
emissions, and is harmful to human health even with In addition, numerous investigations were conducted
short-term exposure. NO can cause cellular inflammation, to determine the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in municipal
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bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and respiratory issues, raw wastewater in the Netherlands (Medema et al.,
leading to 4.6 million deaths annually (Muhammad et al., 2020), the United States (Wu et al., 2020), Australia
2020; Latza et al., 2009). Long-term exposure to NO levels (Ahmed et al., 2020), France (Wurtzer et al., 2020), India
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as low as 0.1 parts per million can lead to chronic conditions (Kumar et al., 2020a-c), Turkey (Kocamemi et al., 2020),
such as bronchitis and emphysema and affect lung function the United Arab Emirates (Hasan et al., 2021), Bangladesh
(Boningari & Smirniotis, 2016). The reduced industrial (Ahmed et al., 2020, Jakariya et al., 2021). The results of
activity and fewer on-road vehicles during the COVID- these investigations offer a more comprehensive image of

Volume 3 Issue 1 (2025) 52 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.3992