How Social Distancing May Be Helping the Environment This Earth Day

As we gather at home for another month or so, the towns and cities we live in have become quite different. Quiet, slow and in some cases even feeling like ghost towns. While that may be an uncomfortable feeling for most of us, it does give the environment a little break from the hustle and bustle of human activity.

For instance…

• Traffic has been cut down tremendously all across the US.
• New York’s streets are empty, which means less use of gas and production of emissions.
• Dolphins are swimming in the canals of Venice and the water is clearer.
• There have been drastic reductions in NO2 in China and Italy since self distancing from the pandemic.
• State parks are being shut down to enforce social distancing which may result in more natural growth from less human interaction.
• People are spending money on only what they need which means less transportation is needed to move products.

Self distancing and self isolation doesn’t come naturally for humans as a whole, but despite the difficult road ahead with the virus and the economy, this little silver lining shows just how much of an impact our actions have on the environment. So while we stay home not only to help save lives, we can also give ourselves a pat on the back for giving the environment a little break for Earth Day 2020.