Corona Virus: An optimistic Insight - Sonam RInchen

Turn on your TV or mobile phones or any other devices. Look at every news channel, it is all about COVID-19 and its impact. It has already been around four months since the virus became a concern for people. Wearing masks has become like a fashion in Bhutan. According to www.worldometer.com, globally 2,082,022 people tested positive for the virus. 134,699 people died, although 515,090 recovered as of 16th April 2020.

A third of the population in the world are under lockdown. Almost every school is closed. Most streets, clubs and bars are shut down. The once filled and roaring sport stadiums in many countries are now empty. Almost every sport has been either postponed or cancelled. Factories are closed and fewer cars are plying on the road. Even New York City, a city which never sleeps, is now sleeping.

Everybody seems to be in hibernation from the fear of getting the virus. But if we look at it positively, it has created a massive impact on the environment. Pollution in New York has fallen by about 50%, emissions in China has fallen by 25% and the use of coal in China has also been down by 40%. Wuhan and several other cities in China have now been deemed as livable cities. It has been found that Nitrogen emissions in the air above Northern Italy, UK and Spain are fading away. The once cloudy and dusty canals of Venice are now crystal clear with fishes and dolphins. The blue sky has also dawned over once a very polluted and foggy Delhi.

But will this clean and renewed Earth be only a chapter in a history textbook in the future? The impact that this pandemic has created on the environment couldn’t be created by anything else because till now all we have been doing is wounding the planet. It’s time to start over and fix what we did wrong. Let’s say we got a second chance.

In response to the virus, people’s behavior and practices have been changing. More and more people have started to work from home. Students are increasingly getting homeschooled. Use of vehicles has also reduced and are driven only if necessary. These practices have brought down carbon emissions.

In the case of Bhutan, people are testing new ways of doing things. Meat and vegetable import has been banned. This has compelled people to go green. Vegetable farming is on the rise, which promotes organic produce. Offices have started to test work from home system. Schools have started to teach online and business meetings are held virtually. These practices are fairly new to Bhutan yet impactful. It has eased our traffic and reduced carbon emission substantially.

If we continue to pursue these new practices, we can actually hold on and enjoy a clean and safe Earth. Let us continue to take advantage of technology and explore new environment friendly ways to do things. Let us learn from this situation to explore how we can all build a better, green, clean and safe future, “A PARADISE.” For now let us pray and hope that this pandemic will be contained soon. Together we can get through this… PC: https://www.airport-technology.com/sponsored/frequentis-voice-communications-beijing-mega-airport/