The dark cloud with a silver lining: Assessing the impact of the SARS COVID-19 pandemic on the global environment

The effects of COVID-19 on agriculture supply chain, food security, and environment: a review

COVID-19 has a deep impact on the economic, environmental, and social life of the global population. Particularly, it disturbed the entire agriculture supply chain due to a shortage of labor, travel restrictions, and changes in demand during lockdowns. Consequently, the world population faced food insecurity due to a reduction in food production and booming food prices. Low-income households face food security challenges because of limited income generation during the pandemic. Thus, there is a need to understand comprehensive strategies to meet the complex challenges faced by the food industry and marginalized people in developing countries. This research is intended to review the agricultural supply chain, global food security, and environmental dynamics of COVID-19 by exploring the most significant literature in this domain. Due to lockdowns and reduced industrial production, positive environmental effects are achieved through improved air and water quality and reduced noise pollution globally. However, negative environmental effects emerged due to increasing medical waste, packaging waste, and plastic pollution due to disruptions in recycling operations. There is extensive literature on the effects of COVID-19 on the environment and food security. This study is an effort to review the existing literature to understand the net effects of the pandemic on the environment and food security. The literature suggested adopting innovative policies and strategies to protect the global food supply chain and achieve economic recovery with environmental sustainability. For instance, food productivity should be increased by using modern agriculture technologies to ensure food security. The government should provide food to vulnerable populations during the pandemic. Trade restrictions should be removed for food trade to improve international collaboration for food security. On the environmental side, the government should increase recycling plants during the pandemic to control waste and plastic pollution.

Air quality changes in NE Romania during the first Covid 19 pandemic wave

This study analyzes for the first time uniformly and causally the level of pollution and air quality for the NE-Romania Region, one of the poorest region in the European Union. Knowing the level of pollution and air quality in this region, which can be taken as a benchmark due to its positional and economic-geographical attributes, responds to current scientific and practical needs. The study uses an hourly database (for five pollutants and five climate elements), from 2009 to 2020, from 19 air quality monitoring stations in northeastern Romania. Pollutant levels were statistically and graphically/cartographically modeled for the entire 2009-2020 interval on the distributive-spatial and regime, temporal component. Inter-station differences and similarities were analyzed causally. Taking advantage of the emergency measures between March 16 and May 14, 2020, we observed the impact of the event on the regional air quality in northeastern Romania. During the emergency period, the metropolitan area of Suceava (with over 100,000 inhabitants) was quarantined, which allowed us to analyze the impact of the quarantine period on the local air quality. We found that, in this region, air quality falls into class I (for NO2, SO2 and CO), II for O3 and III for PM10. During the lockdown periods NO2 and SO2 decreased for the entire region by 8.6 and 14.3%, respectively, and in Suceava by 13.9 and 40.1%, respectively. The causes of the reduction were anthropogenic in nature.

Impact of coronavirus-driven reduction in aerosols on precipitation in the western United States

Among the many impacts of COVID-19, the pandemic led to improved air quality conditions in the countries under quarantine due to the shutdown of industries, drastically reduced traffic, and lockdowns. Meanwhile, the western United States, particularly the coastal areas from Washington to California, received much less precipitation than normal during early 2020. Is it possible that this reduction in precipitation was driven by the reduced aerosols due to the coronavirus? Here we show that the reduction in aerosols resulted in higher temperatures (up to ∼0.5 °C) and generally lower snow amounts but cannot explain the observed low precipitation amounts over this region. In addition to an assessment of the effects of the coronavirus-related reduction in aerosols on precipitation across the western United States, our findings also provide basic information on the potential impacts different mitigation efforts aimed at reducing anthropogenic aerosols would have on the regional climate.

Impact assessment of COVID-19 global pandemic on water, environment, and humans

One of the most significant threats to global health since the Second World War is the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to COVID-19 widespread social, environmental, economic, and health concerns. Other unfavourable factors also emerged, including increased trash brought on by high consumption of packaged foods, takeout meals, packaging from online shopping, and the one-time use of plastic products. Due to labour shortages and residents staying at home during mandatory lockdowns, city municipal administrations' collection and recycling capacities have decreased, frequently damaging the environment (air, water, and soil) and ecological and human systems. The COVID-19 challenges are more pronounced in unofficial settlements of developing nations, particularly for developing nations of the world, as their fundamental necessities, such as air quality, water quality, trash collection, sanitation, and home security, are either non-existent or difficult to obtain. According to reports, during the pandemic's peak days (20 August 2021 (741 K cases), 8 million tonnes of plastic garbage were created globally, and 25 thousand tonnes of this waste found its way into the ocean. This thorough analysis attempts to assess the indirect effects of COVID-19 on the environment, human systems, and water quality that pose dangers to people and potential remedies. Strong national initiatives could facilitate international efforts to attain environmental sustainability goals. Significant policies should be formulated like good quality air, pollution reduction, waste management, better sanitation system, and personal hygiene. This review paper also elaborated that further investigations are needed to investigate the magnitude of impact and other related factors for enhancement of human understanding of ecosystem to manage the water, environment and human encounter problems during epidemics/pandemics in near future.

Perceptions of change in the environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for environmental policy

COVID-19 lockdown measures have impacted the environment with both positive and negative effects. However, how human populations have perceived such changes in the natural environment and how they may have changed their daily habits have not been yet thoroughly evaluated. The objectives of this work were to investigate (1) the social perception of the environmental changes produced by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and the derived change in habits in relation to i) waste management, energy saving, and sustainable consumption, ii) mobility, iii) social inequalities, iv) generation of noise, v) utilization of natural spaces, and, vi) human population perception towards the future, and (2) the associations of these potential new habits with various socio-demographic variables. First, a SWOT analysis identified strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T) generated by the pandemic lockdown measures. Second, a survey based on the aspects of the SWOT was administered among 2370 adults from 37 countries during the period from February to September 2021. We found that the short-term positive impacts on the natural environment were generally well recognized. In contrast, longer-term negative effects arise, but they were often not reported by the survey participants, such as greater production of plastic waste derived from health safety measures, and the increase in e-commerce use, which can displace small storefront businesses. We were able to capture a mismatch between perceptions and the reported data related to visits to natural areas, and generation of waste. We found that age and country of residence were major contributors in shaping the survey participants ´answers, which highlights the importance of government management strategies to address current and future environmental problems. Enhanced positive perceptions of the environment and ecosystems, combined with the understanding that livelihood sustainability, needs to be prioritized and would reinforce environmental protection policies to create greener cities. Moreover, new sustainable jobs in combination with more sustainable human habits represent an opportunity to reinforce environmental policy.

Improved air quality leads to enhanced vegetation growth during the COVID-19 lockdown in India

The direct effect of pandemic induced lockdown (LD) on environment is widely explored, but its secondary impacts remain largely unexplored. Therefore, we assess the response of surface greenness and photosynthetic activity to the LD-induced improvement of air quality in India. Our analysis reveals a significant improvement in air quality marked by reduced levels of aerosols (AOD, -19.27%) and Particulate Matter (PM 2.5, -23%) during LD (2020)from pre-LD (March-September months for the period 2017-2019). The vegetation exhibits a positive response, reflected by the increase in surface greenness [Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI, +10.4%)] and photosynthetic activity [Solar Induced Fluorescence (SiF, +11%)], during LD from pre-LD that coincides with two major agricultural seasons of India; Zaid (March-May) and Kharif (June-September). In addition, the croplands show a higher response [two-fold in EVI (14.45%) and four-fold in SiF (17.7%)] than that of forests. The prolonged growing period (phenology) and high rate of photosynthesis (intensification) led to the enhanced greening during LD owing to the reduced atmospheric pollution. This study, therefore, provides new insights into the response of vegetation to the improved air quality, which would give ideas to counter the challenges of food security in the context of climate pollution, and combat global warming by more greening.

Important revelations of different degrees of COVID-19 lockdown on improving regional air quality: a case study of Shijiazhuang, China

To control the spread of COVID-19, Shijiazhuang implemented two lockdowns of different magnitudes in 2020 (lockdown I) and 2021 (lockdown II). We analyzed the changes in air quality index (AQI), PM_2.5, O₃, and VOCs during the two lockdowns and the same period in 2019 and quantified the effects of anthropogenic sources during the lockdowns. The results show that AQI decreased by 13.2% and 32.4%, and PM_2.5 concentrations decreased by 12.9% and 42.4% during lockdown I and lockdown II, respectively, due to the decrease in urban traffic mobility and industrial activity levels. However, the sudden and unreasonable emission reductions led to an increase in O₃ concentrations by 160.6% and 108.4%, respectively, during the lockdown period. To explore the causes of the O₃ surge, the major precursors NO_x and VOCs were studied separately, and the main VOCs species affecting ozone formation during the lockdown period and the source variation of VOCs were identified, and it is important to note that the relationship between diurnal variation characteristics of VOCs and cooking became apparent during the lockdown period. These findings suggest that regional air quality can be improved by limiting production, but attention should be paid to the surge of O₃ caused by unreasonable emission reductions, clarifying the control priorities for urban O₃ management.

Examining the Human Activity-Intensity Change at Different Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic across Chinese Working, Residential and Entertainment Areas

The COVID-19 pandemic has already resulted in more than 6 million deaths worldwide as of December 2022. The COVID-19 has also been greatly affecting the activity of the human population in China and the world. It remains unclear how the human activity-intensity changes have been affected by the COVID-19 spread in China at its different stages along with the lockdown and relaxation policies. We used four days of Location-based services data from Tencent across China to capture the real-time changes in human activity intensity in three stages of COVID-19-namely, during the lockdown, at the first stage of work resuming and at the stage of total work resuming-and observed the changes in different land use categories. We applied the mean decrease Gini (MDG) approach in random forest to examine how these changes are influenced by land attributes, relying on the CART algorithm in Python. This approach was also compared with Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR). Our analysis revealed that the human activity intensity decreased by 22-35%, 9-16% and 6-15%, respectively, in relation to the normal conditions before the spread of COVID-19 during the three periods. The human activity intensity associated with commercial sites, sports facilities/gyms and tourism experienced the relatively largest contraction during the lockdown. During the relaxations of restrictions, government institutions showed a 13.89% rise in intensity at the first stage of work resuming, which was the highest rate among all the working sectors. Furthermore, the GDP and road junction density were more influenced by the change in human activity intensity for all land use categories. The bus stop density was importantly associated with mixed-use land recovery during the relaxing stages, while the coefficient of density of population in entertainment land were relatively higher at these two stages. This study aims to provide additional support to investigate the human activity changes due to the spread of COVID-19 at different stages across different sectors.

To what extent the traffic restriction policies can improve its air quality? An inspiration from COVID-19

In hazy days, several local authorities always implemented the strict traffic-restriction measures to improve the air quality. However, owing to lack of data, the quantitative relationships between them are still not clear. Coincidentally, traffic restriction measures during the COVID-19 pandemic provided an experimental setup for revealing such relationships. Hence, the changes in air quality in response to traffic restrictions during COVID-19 in Spain and United States was explored in this study. In contrast to pre-lockdown, the private traffic volume as well as public traffic during the lockdown period decreased within a range of 60-90%. The NO₂ concentration decreased by approximately 50%, while O₃ concentration increased by approximately 40%. Additionally, changes in air quality in response to traffic reduction were explored to reveal the contribution of transportation to air pollution. As the traffic volume decreased linearly, NO₂ concentration decreased exponentially, whereas O₃ concentration increased exponentially. Air pollutants did not change evidently until the traffic volume was reduced by less than 40%. The recovery process of the traffic volume and air pollutants during the post-lockdown period was also explored. The traffic volume was confirmed to return to background levels within four months, but air pollutants were found to recover randomly. This study highlights the exponential impact of traffic volume on air quality changes, which is of great significance to air pollution control in terms of traffic restriction policy.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00477-022-02351-7.

Machine learning analysis on the impacts of COVID-19 on India's renewable energy transitions and air quality

India is severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and is facing an unprecedented public health emergency. While the country's immediate measures focus on combating the coronavirus spread, it is important to investigate the impacts of the current crisis on India's renewable energy transition and air quality. India's economic slowdown is mainly compounded by the collapse of global oil prices and the erosion of global energy demand. A clean energy transition is a key step in enabling the integration of energy and climate. Millions in India are affected owing to fossil fuel pollution and the increasing climate heating that has led to inconceivable health impacts. This paper attempts to study the impact of COVID-19 on India's climate and renewable energy transitions through machine learning algorithms. India is observing a massive collapse in energy demand during the lockdown as its coal generation is suffering the worst part of the ongoing pandemic. During this current COVID-19 crisis, the renewable energy sector benefits from its competitive cost and the Indian government's must-run status to run generators based on renewable energy sources. In contrast to fossil fuel-based power plants, renewable energy sources are not exposed to the same supply chain disruptions in this current pandemic situation. India has the definite potential to surprise the global community and contribute to cost-effective decarbonization. Moreover, the country has a good chance of building more flexibility into the renewable energy sector to avoid an unstable future.

Investigation of pre and post environmental impact of the lockdown (COVID-19) on the water quality of the Capibaribe and Tejipió rivers, Recife metropolitan region, Brazil

The coronavirus pandemic has seriously affected human health, although some improvements on environmental indexes have temporarily occurred, due to changes on socio-cultural and economic standards. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impacts of the coronavirus and the influence of the lockdown associated with rainfall on the water quality of the Capibaribe and Tejipió rivers, Recife, Northeast Brazil, using cloud remote sensing on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. The study was carried out based on eight representative images from Sentinel-2. Among the selected images, two refer to the year 2019 (before the pandemic), three refer to 2020 (during a pandemic), two from the lockdown period (2020), and one for the year 2021. The land use and land cover (LULC) and slope of the study region were determined and classified. Water turbidity data were subjected to descriptive and multivariate statistics. When analyzing the data on LULC for the riparian margin of the Capibaribe and Tejipió rivers, a low permanent preservation area was found, with a predominance of almost 100% of the urban area to which the deposition of soil particles in rivers are minimal. The results indicated that turbidity values in the water bodies varied from 6 mg. L-1 up to 40 mg. L-1. Overall, the reduction in human-based activities generated by the lockdown enabled improvements in water quality of these urban rivers.

The breathing human infrastructure: Integrating air quality, traffic, and social media indicators

Outdoor air pollution is a complex system that is responsible for the deaths of millions of people annually, yet the integration of interdisciplinary data necessary to assess air quality's multiple metrics is still lacking. This case study integrates atmospheric indicators (concentrations of criteria pollutants including particulate matter and gaseous pollutants), traffic indicators (permanent traffic monitoring station data), and social indicators (community responses in Twitter archives) representing the interplay of the three critical pillars of the United Nations' Triple Bottom Line: environment, economy, and society. During the watershed moment of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in Florida, urban centers demonstrated the gaps and opportunities for understanding the relationships, through correlations rather than causations, between urban air quality, traffic emissions, and public perceptions. The relationship between the perception and the traffic variables were strongly correlated, however no correlation was observed between the perception and actual air quality indicators, except for NO₂. These observations might consequently infer that traffic serves as people's proxy for air quality, regardless of actual air quality, suggesting that social media messaging around asthma may be a way to monitor traffic patterns in areas where no infrastructure currently exists or is prohibited to build. It also indicates that people are less likely to be reliable sensors to accurately measure air quality due to bias in their observations of traffic volume and/or confirmation biases in broader social discourse. Results presented herein are of significance in demonstrating the capacity for interdisciplinary studies to consider the predictive capacities of social media and air pollution, its use as both lever and indicator of public support for air quality legislation and clean-air transitions, and its ability to overcome limitations of surface monitoring stations.

Impact analysis of COVID-19 outbreak on cold supply chains of perishable products using a SWARA based MULTIMOORA approach

The present study aims to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak resulting in Cold Supply Chain (CSC) disruptions and shed new light on the potential opportunities yielded from the pandemic. In addition, the work also aims to explore the most appropriate strategies to minimize CSC disruption due to the COVID-19 outbreak and to repurpose to create conditions as they were before the pandemic. The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on CSCs has been analyzed theoretically and empirically, considering seven broader assessment criteria. To diminish the disruption due to COVID-19, eight of the most appropriate remedial strategies have been proposed in this study. A new hierarchical model was developed to articulate the analysis and consolidate various issues pertinent to CSC disruption caused by COVID-19 in one frame. The developed model was analyzed using a hybrid approach of SWARA-based MULTIMOORA methods. The SWARA method has been used to analyze the significance of considered assessment criteria, while the MULTIMOORA method has been used to analyze the mutual importance of proposed strategies. The findings of this paper show that ‘structural impact’ and ‘business and financial impact’ are the two most affected traits of CSC during the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the world. Meanwhile, the strategies ‘development of safe and healthier work scenario for partners of the cold chain’ and ‘successful monitoring and implementation of COVID-19 protocols’ are the two most important proposed strategies that might help management to mitigate the influence of the COVID-19 outbreak on CSCs. Findings of this research enable CSC managers and policy-makers to develop potential and robust plans for their operations to respond to disruptive situations like COVID-19 and turn them into opportunities for organizational growth and improving the health of society.

Suspect screening of wastewaters to trace anti-COVID-19 drugs: Potential adverse effects on aquatic environment

During the first period of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the lack of specific therapeutic treatments led to the provisional use of a number of drugs, with a continuous review of health protocols when new scientific evidence emerged. The management of this emergency sanitary situation could not take care of the possible indirect adverse effects on the environment, such as the release of a large amount of pharmaceuticals from wastewater treatment plants. The massive use of drugs, which were never used so widely until then, implied new risks for the aquatic environment. In this study, a suspect screening approach using Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry techniques, allowed us to survey the presence of pharmaceuticals used for COVID-19 treatment in three WWTPs of Lombardy region, where the first European cluster of SARS-CoV-2 cases was detected. Starting from a list of sixty-three suspect compounds used against COVID-19 (including some metabolites and transformation products), six compounds were fully identified and monitored together with other target analytes, mainly pharmaceuticals of common use. A monthly monitoring campaign was conducted in a WWTP from April to December 2020 and the temporal trends of some anti-COVID-19 drugs were positively correlated with those of COVID-19 cases and deaths. The comparison of the average emission loads among the three WWTPs evidenced that the highest loads of hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and ciprofloxacin were measured in the WWTP which received the sewages from a hospital specializing in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The monitoring of the receiving water bodies evidenced the presence of eight compounds of high ecological concern, whose risk was assessed in terms of toxicity and the possibility of inducing antibiotic and viral resistance. The results clearly showed that the enhanced, but not completely justified, use of ciprofloxacin and azithromycin represented a risk for antibiotic resistance in the aquatic ecosystems.

Consequences of pre and post confinement on the atmospheric air pollutants during spread of COVID-19 in India

COVID-19, a severe respiratory syndrome, was diagnosed in Wuhan, China, and in the last week of January 2020, it was reported in India. The drastic speed of spreading of COVID-19 imposed a total lockdown in India for the first time in four stages. This leads to restrictions on transport, industries, coal-based power plants, etc. During these stages of lockdown, a detailed analysis was done to study the effect of confinement on various air pollutants, PM₁₀, PM_2.5, SO₂, CO, NH₃, and NO_x (NO, NO₂) over the thirteen different stations situated at different states in India. The data were compared with pre-confinement duration at different locations in India. During confinement, the air pollutants showed less value when compared with the pre-confinement stage alarming everyone and also the Indian government to bring up rules and regulations for better air quality index so that such pandemics should be reduced.

A mini-review: positive impact of COVID-19 on Arial health and ecology

COVID-19 can cause global pandemics; however, no specific vaccine has been recommended for COVID-19. Nearly 216 countries are trying to stop the spread of the disease, recover from it, and improve its mobility. In a way that people have not experienced in recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic affected humans through the year 2020. To stop the spread of the disease, many governments declared a complete lockdown.The nationwide lockdown had some positive effects on the environment even though it led to a decline in global economic growth. Air pollution levels reduced dramatically as a result of this lockdown on pollution. Most of Europe's populated cities saw a reduction in NO2 concentration of 45-54%. COVID-19 and air, water, and ecology are connected via two pathways, one occurring before the spread of the disease and the other following after. As a result of industrial activity, transportation, and high human density, pollutants were high in many areas before the disease spread. There was a reduction in population movements as well as a decline in human activities which resulted in a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, an improvement of the ozone layer, as well as improvements in the Earth's weather and environment. As a result of a COVID-19 pandemic, human activities are negatively impacted, and the environment is positively affected. Our objective is to provide an assessment of the impact of human activities on the environment and ecology. During times of lockdown, there is a correlation between atmospheric changes and the behavior of natural creatures. Several significant findings are presented, including air pollution reduction, air quality improvement, ozone healing, and ecological sustainability. COVID-19 is beneficial for aerial health, aquatic health, and ecology in this paper.

Decrease in ambient volatile organic compounds during the COVID-19 lockdown period in the Pearl River Delta region, south China

During the COVID-19 lockdown, ambient ozone levels are widely reported to show much smaller decreases or even dramatical increases under substantially reduced precursor NOx levels, yet changes in ambient precursor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been scarcely reported during the COVID-19 lockdown, which is an opportunity to examine the impacts of dramatically changing anthropogenic emissions on ambient VOC levels in megacities where ozone formation is largely VOC-limited. In this study, ambient VOCs were monitored online at an urban site in Guangzhou in the Pearl River Delta region before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdown. The average total mixing ratios of VOCs became 19.1% lower during the lockdown than before, and those of alkanes, alkenes and aromatics decreased by 19.0%, 24.8% and 38.2%, respectively. The levels of light alkanes (C < 6) decreased by only 13.0%, while those of higher alkanes (C ≥ 6) decreased by 67.8% during the lockdown. Disappeared peak VOC levels in morning rush hours and the drop in toluene to benzene ratios during the lockdown suggested significant reductions in vehicle exhaust and industrial solvent emissions. Source apportioning by positive matrix factorization model revealed that reductions in industrial emissions, diesel exhaust (on-road diesel vehicles and off-road diesel engines) and gasoline-related emissions could account for 48.9%, 42.2% and 8.8%, respectively, of the decreased VOC levels during the lockdown. Moreover, the reduction in industrial emissions could explain 56.0% and 70.0% of the reductions in ambient levels of reactive alkenes and aromatics, respectively. An average increase in O₃-1 h by 17% and a decrease in the daily maximum 8-h average ozone by 11% under an average decrease in NOx by 57.0% and a decrease in VOCs by 19.1% during the lockdown demonstrated that controlling emissions of precursors VOCs and NOx to prevent ambient O₃ pollution in megacities such as Guangzhou remains a highly challenging task.

Heterogeneous impacts of mobility restrictions on air quality in the State of Sao Paulo during the COVID-19 pandemic

Air quality in the State of Sao Paulo was evaluated during the first general State plan of mobility restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic (24th March to May 31, 2020). Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone (O₃), particulate matter PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) concentrations were assessed in cities of the Sao Paulo State with a monitoring station and compared to historical data. Linear regression models were built to investigate the relationship between the isolation of the population - determined using mobile phone monitoring data - and the concentration of each pollutant during the studied period. Although the reduction of pollutants such as NO₂, SO₂ and PM_2.5 is very clear, the economic and climatic characteristics of each region were decisive in the general behaviour of O₃ and PM₁₀. It was not possible to establish a correlation between the pollutants and the isolation index, partly due to the lack of data, partly due to the compliance of the population to those measurements, which was variable over time. Another important limitation factor was the absence of data related to the pollutants of interest in many of the stations. However, the isolation measures carried out in the State opened the opportunity to individually assess the air quality measurements in each of the stations, enabling an understanding that will allow in the future the design of air quality policies together with local sanitary policies.

Resource management: ways to sustain the environmental gains of COVID-19 lockdown

Natural resources are under constant exploitation due to industrialization and urbanization. Ecological disturbance caused by over exploitation of resources is one of the possible reasons for the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the highly infectious nature of this disease, countries across the world have taken self-imposed isolation measures such as lockdown, quarantine, curfew, etc., to limit human-to-human spread. Though this pandemic has shaken the world and left millions suffering, it has also caused surprising positive effects to environment. Due to reduced human pressure on ecosystems during the lockdown, betterment of air, water quality and biodiversity along with reduced consumption of natural resources have been reported. It is necessary to maintain this improvement in order to avoid the environmental benefits slipping away once the world limbs back to normalcy. The benefits acquired in terms of resource conservation prompt us to avoid unnecessary human interference and adopt sustainable life styles. Wide usage of information and communication technologies (viz. work from home, teleconferencing, e-learning and e-commerce) during the pandemic revealed their potential in meeting the needs of human livelihood and played a significant role in improvement in air quality and reduced resource consumption. Implementing them should be a policy measure during an environmental crisis. Active government involvement is necessary for coordinating institutional and policy aspects of resource conservation. Smooth transitioning to more sustainable post-COVID world thus requires coordinated action at individual, local, national and international levels. Restoring environmental resources is essential to prevent future pandemics.

COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on the environment: A global perspective

Many researchers worldwide have focused on the health impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic without paying much emphasis to the environmental impacts associated with the pandemic. Evidence suggests that prior to the pandemic there was an alarming increase in environmental pollution due to rising industrialization, in particular in urban areas. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, satellite data over Asia and Europe showed a substantial decrease in air pollution, in particular nitrogen dioxide. However, the increase in industrial and household wastes may pose a significant challenge to environmental management. The improper management of these wastes poses an unforeseen "knock-on" effect on human health and the environment. It is imperative to establish an effective and safe procedure, for handling and disposing of the consequential wastes accumulating during the pandemic. The review aims to highlight both the beneficial and detrimental effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the natural environment and to discuss the possible strategies to improve the quality of the global environment during the period of the pandemic and beyond.

Air pollution perception in ten countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

As largely documented in the literature, the stark restrictions enforced worldwide in 2020 to curb the COVID-19 pandemic also curtailed the production of air pollutants to some extent. This study investigates the perception of the air pollution as assessed by individuals located in ten countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Ghana, India, Iran, Italy, Norway, South Africa and the USA. The perceptions towards air quality were evaluated by employing an online survey administered in May 2020. Participants (N = 9394) in the ten countries expressed their opinions according to a Likert-scale response. A reduction in pollutant concentration was clearly perceived, albeit to a different extent, by all populations. The survey participants located in India and Italy perceived the largest drop in the air pollution concentration; conversely, the smallest variation was perceived among Chinese and Norwegian respondents. Among all the demographic indicators considered, only gender proved to be statistically significant.

A comprehensive study of the COVID-19 impact on PM2.5 levels over the contiguous United States: A deep learning approach

We investigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on PM_2.5 levels in eleven urban environments across the United States: Washington DC, New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Detroit, Phoenix, and Seattle. We estimate daily PM_2.5 levels over the contiguous U.S. in March-May 2019 and 2020, and leveraging a deep convolutional neural network, we find a correlation coefficient, an index of agreement, a mean absolute bias, and a root mean square error of 0.90 (0.90), 0.95 (0.95), 1.34 (1.24) μg/m³, and 2.04 (1.87) μg/m³, respectively. Results from Google Community Mobility Reports and estimated PM_2.5 concentrations show a greater reduction of PM_2.5 in regions with larger decreases in human mobility and those in which individuals remain in their residential areas longer. The relationship between vehicular PM_2.5 (i.e., the ratio of vehicular PM_2.5 to other sources of PM_2.5) emissions and PM_2.5 reductions (R = 0.77) in various regions indicates that regions with higher emissions of vehicular PM_2.5 generally experience greater decreases in PM_2.5. While most of the urban environments ⸺ Washington DC, New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Seattle ⸺ show a decrease in PM_2.5 levels by 21.1%, 20.7%, 18.5%, 8.05%, 3.29%, 3.63%, 6.71%, 4.82%, 13.5%, and 7.73%, respectively, between March-May of 2020 and 2019, Phoenix shows a 5.5% increase during the same period. Similar to their PM_2.5 reductions, Washington DC, New York, and Boston, compared to other cities, exhibit the highest reductions in human mobility and the highest vehicular PM_2.5 emissions, highlighting the great impact of human activity on PM_2.5 changes in eleven regions. Moreover, compared to changes in meteorological factors, changes in pollutant concentrations, including those of black carbon, organic carbon, SO₂, SO₄, and especially NO₂, appear to have had a significantly greater impact on PM_2.5 changes during the study period.

COVID 19 Pandemic and biomedical waste management practices in healthcare system

The whole world was shaken with the pandemic of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in end of the year 2019. Due to its novel origin, it was required to follow all precautions possible. Dealing with the massive amount of infectious healthcare waste became an enormous challenge. This review identifies the impacts of the pandemic on biomedical waste management. This systematic review was made by using keywords "biomedical waste" and "COVID 19" in open access databases like PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Google Scholers etc. 2124 articles downloaded and 765 found duplicate and 634 not related to the topic. after scrutiny with inclusion criteria 102 articles were considered to analyze the practices related to biomedical waste management during pandemic using PRISMA guideline.. The COVID-19 waste segregation, collection, storage, transportation, and disposal are a big challenge with all stakeholders. In order to control the virus spread, strict monitoring of the complete waste management cycle is required. Adoption of appropriate guidelines is paramount to worker safety and containment of infection. Sustainable recycling methods are needed to deal with the ever-increasing plastic waste resulting from mandatory personal protective equipment (PPE) usage. The situation also demands a rethinking of the healthcare system. Overall, there was an increase in BMW generation, and municipal waste had increased globally. Pandemic preparedness requires a global public health strategy and long-term investments. This will be vital for making a robust community capable enough to fight against any public health pressures in the future, as well as the pandemic tremors. Systematized efforts from all stakeholders, at all levels, not only refines epidemic preparation but also helps to attain a sustainable development of health for a healthier future.

Spatio-temporal variation and sensitivity analysis of aerosol particulate matter during the COVID-19 phase-wise lockdowns in Indian cities

At the pandemic of COVID-19, the movement of business and other non-essential activities were majorly restricted at the end of March 2020 in India and continued in different lockdown phases until June 2020. By categorically, studying sensitivity towards anthropogenic factors with other environmental implications in urban Indian cities during phase-wise lockdown scenarios will pave the way for a refined Clean Air Programme (CAP). In this study, the aerosol particulate matter variations between the lockdown phases in both spatial and temporal scales have been explored along with cities exceeding national ambient air quality (NAAQ) standards covering different geographical regions of India for their air quality level. The results of the spatial pattern of Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring System (CAMS) near-real-time data showed a negative change both in Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) (-0.2 to 0.1) and black carbon AOD (bcAOD) (-0.9 to -0.75). The changes were evident in successive phases of lockdown with an overall AOD reduction of about 70-90%. Southern urban cities showed a significant impact of mobile sources from temporal analysis than other cities. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for effects of pollutants by anthropogenic factors (mobile and point source) and meteorological factors (wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation, relative humidity) revealed the two significant driving factors. PM reduction was about 50-70%, predominantly due to anthropogenic factors. The factor analysis revealed the influence of meteorological factors between the major urban cities (Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad). Cities that exceed NAAQ standard performed well during phase-wise lockdowns, exceptional to cities in Gangetic plain. This study helps to frame region-specific strategic action plans for the CAP.

Impact of lockdown and crop stubble burning on air quality of India: a case study from wheat-growing region

The emergence of COVID-19 has brought the entire planet to a halt. Many countries, including India, were compelled to shut down most urban, industrial, social and other activities as a result of the pandemic. Due to a series of complete lockdowns imposed in India from March 24 to May 17, 2020, and state-wise local level restrictions afterward, have resulted in significant reduction of emissions of numerous atmospheric pollutants. The objective of this study is to analyse the change in concentration of various pollutants such as nitrogen oxide (NO₂), carbon monoxide (CO) and aerosol optical depth (AOD) due to lockdown and also to quantify the contribution of crop stubble burning to air pollution. The Sentinel-5P based NO₂ and CO observations for 2019 and 2020 and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-based AOD observations for 2016-2020 were used for detecting the variations. The obtained results showed a significant decrease in NO₂ levels during various stages of lockdown. Small decrease in CO levels was observed across most part of the India. With a few exceptions, such as coastal and desert regions, there was a moderate decrease in AOD levels. Furthermore, to study the contribution of NO₂, CO and AOD from crop stubble burning, MODIS observations on active fire events were obtained from Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). The burning of crop stubble increased NO₂ emissions by 22 to 80%. CO levels, on the other hand, have risen by 7 to 25%. A considerable variation in AOD was reported, ranging from 1 to 426%.

Evaluating the impact of flood inundation with the cloud computing platform over vegetation cover of Ganga Basin during COVID-19

Around the month of July 2020, the people suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic got added burden of disastrous floods. The current study tries to understand the impact of flood inundation on the vegetation cover across the Ganga Basin with the help of a cloud-based computing platform like Google Earth Engine (GEE) in a near real-time scenario. This offers a semi-automatic scheme with customized algorithms to process the large scale of datasets to further analyze and derive the required information from space-based satellite images like Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. The direct impact of floods on vegetation cover is assessed with the satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI). The results of post-flood NDVI and EVI readings showed a considerable reduction due to the protracted flood water submergence. The results show the flood extent maps for the selected regions for the lower Ganga Basin having inundations in parts of Bihar and West Bengal. This affects the settlements, agricultural land, and vegetation cover with damage to the large population. The outcomes of the work may be utilized to assess the precise flood-inundated areas at a faster rate to offer a faster response even in the pandemic.

Analysing the change in water quality parameters along river Ganga at Varanasi, Mirzapur and Ghazipur using Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 satellite data during pre-lockdown, lockdown and post-lockdown associated with COVID-19

Abstract

The proper functioning of the river ecosystem has been symbolised by healthy aquatic life. The river Ganga has shown signs of rejuvenation due to lockdown. In this study, an attempt has been made to analyse the change in river water quality using Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 imageries. The quantitative analysis has been performed for temperature and normalised difference turbidity index (NDTI). The qualitative analysis has been performed for pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) and total suspended solids (TSSs). Ghazipur, Varanasi and Mirzapur stretches have been selected for this study. In the Ghazipur stretch, the river temperature decreased by 7.14% in May 2020 (lockdown period) as compared to May 2019 (1 year before lockdown). Similarly, in the Varanasi stretch, this decrease has been by 8.62%, and in the Mirzapur stretch, this decrease has been by 12.06% in May 2020 compared to May 2019. For the same period, NDTI in the Ghazipur, Varanasi and Mirzapur stretch has been decreased by 0.22, 0.26 and 0.24, respectively. The pH and DO of the river increased, and TSS decreased for the considered time period. The lockdown during the second wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 was not helpful for river rejuvenation. This study elicited how the behaviour of the parameters changed during the lockdown.

Research highlights

River Ganga becomes much cleaner in the lockdown period (May 2020) compared to the pre-lockdown time.

In the Mirzapur stretch, the temperature decreased most in May 2020 as compared to May 2019.

In the Varanasi stretch, there is a maximum variation in the NDTI value in May 2020 in comparison with that of May 2019.

The most significant task will be to maintain river conditions during post-lockdown similar to that prevailed during lockdown.

In the second wave COVID-19 lockdown the river again became polluted like the pre-COVID times.

Changes in turbidity and human activities along Haihe River Basin during lockdown of COVID-19 using satellite data

During the outbreak of the COVID-19, China implemented an urban lockdown in the first period. These measures not only effectively curbed the spread of the virus but also brought a positive impact on the ecological environment. The water quality of urban inland river has a significant impact on urban ecology and public health. This study uses Sentinel-2 visible and near-infrared band reflectance and the Normalized Difference Turbidity Index (NDTI) to analyze the water quality of the Haihe River Basin during the control period of COVID-19. It is found that during the lockdown period, the river water quality was significantly improved compared to the same period in 2019. The average NDTI of the Haihe River Basin in March decreased by 0.27, a decrease of 219.06%; in April, it increased by 0.07, that is 38.38%. Further exploration using VIIRS lights found that the brightness of the lights in the main urban area was significantly lower in February, the beginning of the lockdown. However, as the city was unblocked, the lights rose sharply in March and then recovered to normal. There is obvious asynchrony in changes between river turbidity and light. The results can help understand the impact of human activities on the natural environment.

COVID-19 lockdown improved river water quality in China

The impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns on air quality around the world have received wide attention. In comparison, assessments of the implications for water quality are relatively rare. As the first country impacted by COVID-19, China implemented local and national lockdowns that shut down industries and businesses between January and May 2020. Based on monthly field measurements (N = 1693) and daily automonitoring (N = 65), this study analyzed the influence of the COVID-19 lockdown on river water quality in China. The results showed significant improvements in river water quality during the lockdown period but out-of-step improvements for different indicators. Reductions in ammonia nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N) began relatively soon after the lockdown; chemical oxygen demand (COD) and dissolved oxygen (DO) showed improvements beginning in late January/early February and mid-March, respectively, while increases in pH were more temporally concentrated in the period from mid-March to early May. Compared to April 2019, the Water Quality Index increased at 67.4% of the stations in April 2020, with 75.9% of increases being significant. Changes in water quality parameters also varied spatially for different sites and were mainly determined by the locations and levels of economic development. After the lifting of the lockdown in June, all water quality parameters returned to pre-COVID-19 lockdown conditions. Our results clearly demonstrate the impacts of human activities on water quality and the potential for reversing ecosystem degradation by better management of wastewater discharges to replicate the beneficial impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown. CAPSULE SUMMARY: River water quality improved during China's COVID-19 lockdown, but returned to normal conditions after the lockdown.

State of air pollutants and related health risk over Haryana India as viewed from satellite platform in COVID-19 lockdown scenario

COVID-19 driven lockdown has affected air quality worldwide. Changes in air pollutants concentration, Air Quality Index (AQI), and associated Excess Health Risk (ER%) were assessed using satellite data of before (2019), and during (2020) COVID-19 periods in the industrially, agriculturally developed and highly populated area of Haryana in the northern region of Indo-Gangetic Plains. Parameters such as Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), Particulate matters (PM), Sulphur Di-Oxide (SO2), Nitrogen Di-Oxide (NO2), Carbon Mono-oxide (CO), and Methane (CH4) were derived using satellite data and validated using ground-based observations (n = 23). The coefficient of correlation (r) 0.91, 0.90, 0.95, 0.73, 0.81 and 0.80 were established with AOD, PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2 and CO, respectively. Significant reduction (p  < 0.005) in the concentration of air pollutants, viz. 38% in AOD, 55% in PM2.5, 61% in PM10, 31% in SO2, 10% in NO2, 5% in CO and 1% in CH4 were observed during lockdown. Significant (p  < 0.00) improvement in air quality was observed due to a 44% reduction in pollution level, which led to the reduction in ER% by 71%, which is quite significant. AQI and ER% from satellite and ground showed a high r2 i.e. 0.88 and 0.99 respectively, suggesting the potential application of satellite data for periodic AQI and ER% assessment.

Air Quality during the COVID–19 Lockdown and Unlock Periods in India Analyzed Using Satellite and Ground-based Measurements

Abstract

A nationwide lockdown was imposed in India from 24 March 2020 to 31 May 2020 to contain the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown has changed the atmospheric pollution across the continents. Here, we analyze the changes in two most important air quality related trace gases, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and tropospheric ozone (O₃) from satellite and surface observations, during the lockdown (April–May 2020) and unlock periods (June–September 2020) in India, to examine the baseline emissions when anthropogenic sources were significantly reduced. We use the Bayesian statistics to find the changes in these trace gas concentrations in different time periods. There is a strong reduction in NO₂ during the lockdown as public transport and industries were shut during that period. The largest changes are found in IGP (Indo-Gangetic Plain), and industrial and mining areas in Eastern India. The changes are small in the hilly regions, where the concentrations of these trace gases are also very small (0–1 × 10¹⁵ molec./cm²). In addition, a corresponding increase in the concentrations of tropospheric O₃ is observed during the period. The analyses over cities show that there is a large decrease in NO₂ in Delhi (36%), Bangalore (21%) and Ahmedabad (21%). As the lockdown restrictions were eased during the unlock period, the concentrations of NO₂ gradually increased and ozone deceased in most regions. Therefore, this study suggests that pollution control measures should be prioritized, ensuring strict regulations to control the source of anthropogenic pollutants, particularly from the transport and industrial sectors.

Highlights

• Most cities show a reduction up to 15% of NO₂ during the lockdown

• The unlock periods show again an increase of about 40–50% in NO₂

• An increase in tropospheric O₃ is observed together with the decrease in NO₂

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40710-022-00585-9.

You can't do anything about it, but you can make the best of it: a qualitative analysis of pandemic-related experiences in six European countries

BACKGROUND

The complex system of stressors related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the global population, provoking a broad range of psychological reactions. Although numerous studies have investigated the mental health impact of COVID-19, qualitative research and cross-country comparisons are still rare.

OBJECTIVE

This qualitative study aimed to explore self-perceived challenges and opportunities related to COVID-19 across six European countries. The overall objective was to provide a differentiated picture of individual subjective experiences in the early stages of the pandemic.

METHOD

The present study included 7309 participants from Austria, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Poland, and Portugal. We performed qualitative content analysis according to Mayring analyse open-ended questions regarding stressful events, positive and negative aspects of the pandemic, and recommendations to cope with the pandemic situation. MAXQDA software was used for data management and analysis.

RESULTS

Participants' accounts were moderately consistent across the countries. The most prominent themes regarding stressful and negative pandemic aspects included: Restrictions and changes in daily life, Emotional distress, and Work and finances. Answers about positive pandemic consequences were mainly centred around the themes Reflection and growth, Opportunity for meaningful/enjoyable activities, and Benefits on interpersonal level. Key themes identified from participants' recommendations to cope with the pandemic included Beneficial behavioural adjustment, Beneficial cognitive-emotional strategies, and Social support.

CONCLUSIONS

Participants experienced various challenges, but also shared several positive pandemic consequences and recommendations to cope with the pandemic. These first-hand data could inform mental health practices to promote well-being during COVID-19 and similar global challenges in the participating countries and possibly beyond.

HIGHLIGHTS

We examined COVID-19-related experiences in 7309 adults from six European countries.Besides challenges, participants identified many positive pandemic consequences.Participants' recommendations to cope with COVID-19 included behavioural and cognitive-emotional strategies.

COVID-19 pandemic: What can we learn for better air quality and human health?

The COVID-19 lockdown resulted in improved air quality in many cities across the world. With the objective of what could be the new learning from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns for better air quality and human health, a critical synthesis of the available evidence concerning air pollution reduction, the population at risk and natural versus anthropogenic emissions was conducted. Can the new societal norms adopted during pandemics, such as the use of face cover, awareness regarding respiratory hand hygiene, and physical distancing, help in reducing disease burden in the future? The use of masks will be more socially acceptable during the high air pollution episodes in lower and middle-income countries, which could help to reduce air pollution exposure. Although post-pandemic, some air pollution reduction strategies may be affected, such as car-pooling and the use of mass transit systems for commuting to avoid exposure to airborne infections like coronavirus. However, promoting non-motorized modes of transportation such as cycling and walking within cities as currently being enabled in Europe and other countries could overshadow such losses. This demand focus on increasing walkability in a town for all ages and populations, including for a differently-abled community. The study highlighted that for better health and sustainability there. is also a need to promote other measures such as work-from-home, technological infrastructure, the extension of smart cities, and the use of information technology.

Air quality during three covid-19 lockdown phases: AQI, PM2.5 and NO2 assessment in cities with more than 1 million inhabitants

Implemented quarantine due to the ongoing novel coronavirus (agent of COVID-19) has an immense impact on human mobility and economic activities as well as on air quality. Since then, and due to the drastic reduction in pollution levels in cities across the world, a large discussion has been magnetized regarding if the lockdown is an adequate alternative counter-measure for enhancing air quality. This paper aimed at studying the Air Quality Index (AQI), PM2.5, and tropospheric NO2 levels in three lockdown phases (before, during, and after) among 21 cities around the world. Simple before/after comparison approach was carried out to capture the declining trend in air pollution levels caused by the lockdown restrictions. The results showed that the frequency distribution for NO2 is more variable than that for PM2.5, and the distribution is flatter from 2020 to the baseline 2018-2019 period. Besides, AQI, in most of the cities, has varied from high to mild pollution during the lockdown and was moderate before. Although during the lockdown, a reduction of 3 to 58% of daily NO2 concentrations was observed across the cities, an increase was detected in three cities including Abidjan (1%), Conakry (3%), and Chengdu (10%). Despite this mixed trend, the NO2 time series clearly showed the effect of the unlocking phase where the NO2 levels increased in almost all cities. Similarly, PM2.5 concentrations have increased in the post-lockdown period, with 50% of the cities reporting significant positive differences between the lock and the unlock phase. Then, the levels of PM2.5 were higher at the pre-lockdown phase than at any other time exhibiting a "U" shape. In addition, during Ramadan, it was noted that altered patterns of daily activities in some Islamic cities have a significant negative impact on air quality.

Characterizing the interruption-recovery patterns of urban air pollution under the COVID-19 lockdown in China

The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to study the effects of urban lockdown policies on the variation in pollutant concentrations and to characterize the recovery patterns of urban air pollution under the interruption of COVID-19 lockdown policies. In this paper, interruption-recovery models and regression discontinuity design were developed to characterize air pollution interruption-recovery patterns and analyze environmental impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown, using air pollution data from four Chinese metropolises (i.e., Shanghai, Wuhan, Tianjin, and Guangzhou). The results revealed the air pollutant interruption-recovery curve represented by the three lockdown response periods (Level I, Level II and Level III) during COVID-19. The curve decreased during Level I (A 25.3%-48.8% drop in the concentration of NO₂ has been observed in the four metropolises compared with the same period in 2018-2019.), then recovered around reopening, but decreased again during Level III. Moreover, the interruption-recovery curve of the year-on-year air pollution difference suggests a process of first decreasing during Level I and gradually recovering to a new equilibrium during Level III (e.g., the unit cumulative difference of NO₂ mass concentrations in Shanghai was 21.7, 22.5, 11.3 (μg/m³) during Level I, II, and III and other metropolises shared similar results). Our findings reveal general trends in the air quality externality of different lockdown policies, hence could provide valuable insights into air pollutant interruption-recovery patterns and clear scientific guides for policymakers to estimate the effect of different lockdown policies on urban air quality.

Unintended health and societal consequences of international travel measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE

International travel measures to contain the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represent a relatively intrusive form of non-pharmaceutical intervention. To inform decision-making on the (re)implementation, adaptation, relaxation or suspension of such measures, it is essential to not only assess their effectiveness but also their unintended effects.

METHODS

This scoping review maps existing empirical studies on the unintended consequences, both predicted and unforeseen, and beneficial or harmful, of international travel measures. We searched multiple health, non-health and COVID-19-specific databases. The evidence was charted in a map in relation to the study design, intervention and outcome categories identified and discussed narratively.

RESULTS

Twenty-three studies met our inclusion criteria-nine quasi-experimental, two observational, two mathematical modelling, six qualitative and four mixed-methods studies. Studies addressed different population groups across various countries worldwide. Seven studies provided information on unintended consequences of the closure of national borders, six looked at international travel restrictions and three investigated mandatory quarantine of international travellers. No studies looked at entry and/or exit screening at national borders exclusively, however six studies considered this intervention in combination with other international travel measures. In total, 11 studies assessed various combinations of the aforementioned interventions. The outcomes were mostly referred to by the authors as harmful. Fifteen studies identified a variety of economic consequences, six reported on aspects related to quality of life, well-being, and mental health and five on social consequences. One study each provided information on equity, equality, and the fair distribution of benefits and burdens, environmental consequences and health system consequences.

CONCLUSION

This scoping review represents the first step towards a systematic assessment of the unintended benefits and harms of international travel measures during COVID-19. The key research gaps identified might be filled with targeted primary research, as well as the additional consideration of gray literature and non-empirical studies.

Impacts of Aerosol Loading in the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region Based on MERRA-2 Reanalysis Data

The impacts of climate change have severely affected geosphere, biosphere and cryosphere ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region. The impact has been accelerating further during the last few decades due to rapid increase in anthropogenic activities such as modernization, industrialization and urbanization, along with energy demands. In view of this, the present work attempts to examine aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the HKH region using the long-term homogeneous MERRA-2 reanalysis data from January, 1980 to December, 2020. The AOD trends are examined statistically with student’s t-test (t). Due to a vast landmass, fragile topography and harsh climatic conditions, we categorized the HKH region into three sub-regions, namely, the northwestern and Karakoram (HKH1), the Central (HKH2) and the southeastern Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau (HKH3). Among the sub-regions, the significant enhancement of AOD is observed at several potential sites in the HKH2 region, namely, Pokhara, Nainital, Shimla and Dehradun by 55.75 × 10−4 ± 3.76 × 10−4, 53.15 × 10−4 ± 3.94 × 10−4, 51.53 × 10−4 ± 4.99 × 10−4 and 39.16 × 10−4 ± 4.08 × 10−4 AOD year−1 (550 nm), respectively, with correlation coefficients (Rs) of 0.86 to 0.93. However, at a sub-regional scale, HKH1, HKH2 and HKH3 exhibit 23.33 × 10−4 ± 2.28 × 10−4, 32.20 × 10−4 ± 2.58 × 10−4 and 9.48 × 10−4 ± 1.21 × 10−4 AOD year−1, respectively. The estimated trends are statistically significant (t > 7.0) with R from 0.81 to 0.91. Seasonally, the present study also shows strong positive AOD trends at several potential sites located in the HKH2 region, such as Pokhara, Nainital, Shimla and Dehradun, with minimum 19.81 × 10−4 ± 3.38 × 10−4 to maximum 72.95 × 10−4 ± 4.89 × 10−4 AOD year−1 with statistical significance. In addition, there are also increasing AOD trends at all the high-altitude background sites in all seasons.

COVID-19 and dynamics of environmental awareness, sustainable consumption and social responsibility in Malaysia

Despite a profound evidence of the human unsustainable behaviours' impact on the environment, stark disparities prevail on this narrative especially in the context of the current epidemiological situation ushered by the COVID-19. The ongoing pandemic is a global public health concern due to its sagacious impacts on environmental sustainability, social responsibility and people's quality of life. This study primarily focuses on analysing the impact of COVID-19 (COV) on the environmental awareness (EA), sustainable consumption (SC) and social responsibility (SR). Additionally, we aspire to investigate the impact of demographics of generations and religion on the proposed nexus in this study. The data was collected from 700 participants of different age groups and religious backgrounds in Malaysia, and structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse this data and test the hypotheses. The findings indicate that COVID-19 has a significantly positive impact on EA, SC and SR, and the generations and religiosity moderate the relationship between COVID-19 and its impact on sustainable behaviours. This study contributes to analyse the difference in the perception of EA, SC and SR among the people that eventually will stimulate the scientific reasoning among the governments, policymakers and scientists to develop a holistic framework to combat unprecedented event such as COVID-19 and ensure the authentication of sustainable environment and exceptional quality of life. The policymakers in Malaysia may use the findings of this study to inspect the social and environmental aspects of the people during the transformation events.

COVID-19 and environment: a poignant reminder of sustainability in the new normal

The nexus of COVID-19 and environment is conspicuously deep-rooted. The roles of environmental factors in the origin, transmission and spread of COVID-19 and the mutual impact of the pandemic on the global environment have been the two perspectives to view this nexus. The present paper attempts to systematically review the existing literature to understand and explore the linkages of COVID-19 with environment and proposes conceptual frameworks to underline this nexus. Our study indicates a critical role of meteorological factors, ambient air pollutants and wastewater in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) transmission-spread dynamics. The study also focuses on the direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19 on the regional and global environment. Most of the indirect environmental effects of COVID-19 were attributed to global human confinement that resulted from the implementation of the pandemic containment measures. This worldwide anthropogenic 'pause' sent ripples to all environmental compartments and presented a unique test bed to identify anthropogenic impacts on the earth's natural systems. The review further addresses emerging sustainability challenges in the new normal and their potential solutions. The situation warrants critical attention to the environment-COVID-19 nexus and innovative sustainable practices to address the ramifications of short- and long-term environmental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Graphical abstract

Changes in energy consumption according to building use type under COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea

An unprecedented global lockdown has been implemented for controlling the spread of COVID-19 in many countries. These actions are reducing the number of coronics, but with the prolonged COVID-19 outbreak, the restrictions on the activities of people are having a significant impact on all industries. Accordingly, this study aimed to statistically analyze changes in building energy consumption under the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, as well as identify the relationship between COVID-19 and building energy consumption according to the building use type. As a result, the average rate of changes in electricity and gas energy consumption decreased -4.46% and -10.35%, respectively, compared to the previous year. The energy consumption in most facilities has tended to decrease while energy consumption in residential facilities increased during COVID-19. The rate of change in building energy consumption had a significantly positive correlation with COVID-19 related factors in various facilities (e.g., neighborhood, religious, educational, and research facilities). Significant findings of this study that social distancing by the COVID-19 outbreak, has changed energy consumption according to building use type indicates the need for new energy systems to effectively manage the energy demand at the community level in the Post COVID-19 era.

COVID-19 and environmental concerns: A rapid review

COVID-19 has slowed global economic growth and consequently impacted the environment as well. Parallelly, the environment also influences the transmission of this novel coronavirus through various factors. Every nation deals with varied population density and size; air quality and pollutants; the nature of land and water, which significantly impact the transmission of coronavirus. The WHO (Ziaeepour et al., 2008) [1] has recommended rapid reviews to provide timely evidence to the policymakers to respond to the emergency. The present study follows a rapid review along with a brief bibliometric analysis of 328 research papers, which synthesizes the evidence regarding the environmental concerns of COVID-19. The novel contribution of this rapid review is threefold. One, we take stock of the diverse findings as regards the transmission of the novel coronavirus in different types of environments for providing conclusive directions to the ongoing debate regarding the transmission of the virus. Two, our findings provide topical insights as well as methodological guidance for future researchers in the field. Three, we inform the policymakers on the efficacy of environmental measures for controlling the spread of COVID-19.

Perceptions of Change in the Natural Environment produced by the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic across Three European countries. Results from the GreenCOVID study

Although different studies have evaluated the positive impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures on reducing noise pollution and traffic levels and improving air quality, how populations have perceived such changes in the natural environment has not been adequately evaluated. The present study provides a more in-depth exploration of human population perception of enhanced natural exposure (to animal life and nature sounds) and reduced harmful exposure (by improved air quality and reduced traffic volume) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The data is drawn from 3,109 unselected adults who participated in the GreenCOVID survey from April to July 2020 in England, Ireland, and Spain. The findings suggest that the positive impacts to the natural environment as a result of the lockdown have been better received by the population in Spain and Ireland, in comparison to England. Participants who resided in urban areas had better perceived improvements in nature sounds, air quality, and traffic volume compared to those in rural areas. Older populations and those with lower smoking and alcohol consumption were found to perceive this improvement the most. Furthermore, the greater perception of improvements in environmental elements was also associated with better self-perceived health and improved wellbeing. In the binary logistic regression, living in Ireland or Spain, urban areas, female gender, older age, and good overall wellbeing were associated with a greater perception of improvements in the natural environment, while the factors most associated with a greater perception of reduced harmful exposure were living in Spain, had a good self-perceived health status and older age.

Patient Empowerment: Apni Jung (Our Fight) against Rheumatoid Arthritis for South Asian Population

Covid-19 has affected many populations in the UK, and ethnic minority communities in particular. People from ethnic minority communities living with long-term chronic diseases have shown to be less engaging with self-management and report having poor medication adherence. The main reason to this problem is the way information is delivered to non-English speaking patients. This editorial discusses an innovation to over this barriers in rheumatology practice.

Functional ANOVA approaches for detecting changes in air pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic

Faced with novel coronavirus outbreak, the most hard-hit countries adopted a lockdown strategy to contrast the spread of virus. Many studies have already documented that the COVID-19 control actions have resulted in improved air quality locally and around the world. Following these lines of research, we focus on air quality changes in the urban territory of Chieti-Pescara (Central Italy), identified as an area of criticality in terms of air pollution. Concentrations of NO 2 , PM 10 , PM 2.5 and benzene are used to evaluate air pollution changes in this Region. Data were measured by several monitoring stations over two specific periods: from 1st February to 10 th March 2020 (before lockdown period) and from 11st March 2020 to 18 th April 2020 (during lockdown period). The impact of lockdown on air quality is assessed through functional data analysis. Our work makes an important contribution to the analysis of variance for functional data (FANOVA). Specifically, a novel approach based on multivariate functional principal component analysis is introduced to tackle the multivariate FANOVA problem for independent measures, which is reduced to test multivariate homogeneity on the vectors of the most explicative principal components scores. Results of the present study suggest that the level of each pollutant changed during the confinement. Additionally, the differences in the mean functions of all pollutants according to the location and type of monitoring stations (background vs traffic), are ascribable to the PM 10 and benzene concentrations for pre-lockdown and during-lockdown tenure, respectively. FANOVA has proven to be beneficial to monitoring the evolution of air quality in both periods of time. This can help environmental protection agencies in drawing a more holistic picture of air quality status in the area of interest.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on socio-economic, energy-environment and transport sector globally and sustainable development goal (SDG)

The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) want to have a peaceful world where human life will be in a safe, healthy, sustainable environment without any inequalities. However, the year 2020 experienced a global pandemic due to COVID-19. This COVID-19 created an adverse impact on human life, economic, environment, and energy and transport sector compared to the pre-COVID-19 scenario. These above-mentioned sectors are interrelated and thus lockdown strategy and stay at home rules to reduce the COVID-19 transmission had a drastic effect on them. With lockdown, all industry and transport sectors were closed, energy demand reduced greatly but the time shift of energy demand had a critical impact on grid and energy generation. Decreased energy demand caused a silver lining with an improved environment. However, drowned economy creating a negative impact on the human mind and financial condition, which at times led to life-ending decisions. Transport sector which faced a financial dip last year trying to coming out from the losses which are not feasible without government aid and a new customer-friendly policy. Sustainable transport and the electric vehicle should take high gear. While people are staying at home or using work from home scheme, building indoor environment must specially be taken care of as a compromised indoor environment affects and increases the risk of many diseases. Also, the energy-efficient building will play a key role to abate the enhanced building energy demand and more generation from renewable sources should be in priority. It is still too early to predict any forecast about the regain period of all those sectors but with vaccination now being introduced and implemented but still, it can be considered as an ongoing process as its final results are yet to be seen. As of now, COVID-19 still continue to grow in certain areas causing anxiety and destruction. With all these causes, effects, and restoration plans, still SDGs will be suffered in great order to attain their target by 2030 and collaborative support from all countries can only help in this time.

Environmental externalities of the COVID-19 lockdown: Insights for sustainability planning in the Anthropocene

The COVID-19 pandemic has abruptly halted the Anthropocene's ever-expanding reign for the time being. The resulting global human confinement, dubbed as the Anthropause, has created an unprecedented opportunity for us to evaluate the environmental consequences of large-scale changes in anthropogenic activities. Based on a methodical and in-depth review of related literature, this study critically evaluates the positive and negative externalities of COVID-19 induced lockdown on environmental components including air, water, noise, waste, forest, wildlife, and biodiversity. Among adverse impacts of the lockdown, increased amount of healthcare waste (300-400%), increased level of atmospheric ozone (30-300%), elevated levels of illicit felling in forests and wildlife poaching were prominent. Compared to the negative impacts, significant positive changes in various quality parameters related to key environmental components were evident. Positive impacts on air quality, water quality, noise level, waste generation, and wildlife were apparent in varying degrees as evaluated in this study. By presenting a critical overview of the recommendations given in the major literature in light of these documented impacts, this paper alludes to potential policy reforms as a guideline for future sustainable environmental management planning. Some of the key recommendations are e.g., enhance remote working facilities, cleaner design, use of internet of things, automation, systematic lockdown, and inclusion of hazardous waste management in disaster planning. The summarized lessons of this review, pertinent to the dynamic relationship between anthropogenic activities and environmental degradation, amply bring home the need for policy reforms and prioritization of Sustainable Development Goals in the context of the planetary boundaries to the environmental sustainability for a new post-pandemic world.

Effects of COVID-19 on the environment: An overview on air, water, wastewater, and solid waste

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the world hardly as of the beginning of 2020 and quickly spread worldwide from its first-reported point in early Dec. 2019. By mid-March 2021, the COVID-19 almost hit all countries worldwide, with about 122 and 2.7 million confirmed cases and deaths, respectively. As a strong measure to stop the infection spread and deaths, many countries have enforced quarantine and lockdown of many activities. The shutdown of these activities has resulted in large economic losses. However, it has been widely reported that these measures have resulted in improved air quality, more specifically in highly polluted areas characterized by massive population and industrial activities. The reduced levels of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and particulate matter emissions have been reported and confirmed worldwide in association with lockdown periods. On the other hand, ozone levels in ambient air have been found to increase, mainly in response to the reduced nitrogen emissions. In addition, improved water quality in natural water resources has been reported as well. Wastewater facilities have reported a higher level of organic load with persistent chemicals due to the increased use of sanitizers, disinfectants, and antibiotics. The solid waste generated due to the COVID-19 pandemic was found to increase both qualitatively and quantitatively. This work presents and summarizes the observed environmental effects of COVID-19 as reported in the literature for different countries worldwide. The work provides a distinct overview considering the effects imposed by COVID-19 on the air, water, wastewater, and solid waste as critical elements of the environment.

Assessment of water quality in a tropical ramsar wetland of southern India in the wake of COVID-19

The novel SARS-CoV-2 virus influenced the world severely in the first half of 2020 caused shut down of all kind of human activities. It is reported that a word-wide ecological improvement in terms of air quality and water quality during this lock down period. In the present study, an attempt has been made to study the progression in water quality through examining suspended particulate matter using remote sensing data in a tropical Ramsar site viz, Asthamudi Lake in Southern India. The change in spectral reflectance of water along the study area were analyzed and suspended particulate matter (SPM) is estimated from Landsat 8 OLI images. A comparison analysis of pre and co lockdown periods reveal that the concentration of SPM values during lockdown (mean SPM 8.01 mg/l) is lower than that of pre-lockdown (10.03 mg/l). The time series analysis of last five-year data from 2015 to 2020 also shows an average decrease of 43% in SPM concentration during lockdown period compared to the last five-year average value of 9.1 mg/l. The reasons for improvement of SPM in water quality during the lockdown period in April-May 2020 was discussed, in terms of the role of anthropogenic activities and strategies for the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems and water resources in the Asthamudi Lake were also presented.

Improvement in air quality and its impact on land surface temperature in major urban areas across India during the first lockdown of the pandemic

The SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic and the enforced lockdown have reduced the use of surface and air transportation. This study investigates the impact of the lockdown restrictions in India on atmospheric composition, using Sentinel-5Ps retrievals of tropospheric NO₂ concentration and ground-station measurements of NO₂ and PM_2.5 between March-May in 2019 and 2020. Detailed analysis of the changes to atmospheric composition are carried out over six major urban areas (i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad) by comparing Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and land surface temperature (LST) measurements in the lockdown year 2020 and pre-lockdown (2015-2019). Satellite-based data showed that NO₂ concentration reduced by 18% (Kolkata), 29% (Hyderabad), 32-34% (Chennai, Mumbai, and Bangalore), and 43% (Delhi). Surface-based concentrations of NO₂, PM_2.5, and AOD also substantially dropped by 32-74%, 10-42%, and 8-34%, respectively over these major cities during the lockdown period and co-located with the intensity of anthropogenic activity. Only a smaller fraction of the reduction of pollutants was associated with meteorological variability. A substantial negative anomaly was found for LST both in the day (-0.16 °C to -1 °C) and night (-0.63 °C to -2.1 °C) across select all cities, which was also consistent with air temperature measurements. The decreases in LST could be associated with a reduction in pollutants, greenhouse gases and water vapor content. Improvement in air quality with lower urban temperatures due to lockdown may be a temporary effect, but it provides a crucial connection among human activities, air pollution, aerosols, radiative flux, and temperature. The lockdown for a shorter-period showed a significant improvement in environmental quality and provides a strong evidence base for larger scale policy implementation to improve air quality.

How Does Environmental Interpretation Affect Psychological Well-Being? A Study Conducted in the Context of COVID-19

The COVID-19 crisis has challenged and generated severe impact on the global society, economy, and environment. Under this pandemic context, governments and organizations around the world have issued and strengthened environmental policies and regulations to protect the environment and human health. However, the extant knowledge about how people’s interpretation of environmental policies and regulations influence their psychological well-being in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is still limited. This study, therefore, investigates the impact of environmental interpretation on psychological well-being with the mediating role of environmentally responsible behavior and the moderating role of psychological contract violation. Using the data from a large sample of 960 residents in China, results of structural equation modeling show a positive relationship between environmental interpretation and psychological well-being, and this relationship is mediated by environmentally responsible behavior. Notably, psychological contract violation has a moderating effect on the indirect effect of environmental interpretation on psychological well-being via environmentally responsible behavior. These findings have several important implications for policymakers in environmental sustainability and pandemic planning.