THE IMPACTS OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND WASTE GENERATION

Abstract:

For a short time, the pandemic was able to bring halt to our fast paced busy life’s. A dramatic shift occurred in our normal functioning and things we took for granted were not that easily available. The lockdowns pushed humans indoors and it was felt that nature was once again taking back control. The air felt fresh, skies cleared up and weather was pleasant. Huge drop in air pollution was witnessed world over giving us a hope that everything will become stable again ecologically. But, after the lockdown phase was over and the manufacturing and other human activities started once again leading to increase in greenhouse gases emission. But on the other hand we ignored the increased medical waste we have been creating as more masks, gloves and protective gears were being discarded. Compulsion to stay indoor made us to rely more on online shopping which damaged local economy as well created more packaging related waste. So short term impacts like drop in greenhouse gases emissions along with venturing of animals closer to humans was observed. But in the long run it will become difficult to dispose off this huge medical waste that has been created. So this paper tries to analyse all the pros and cons of pandemic’s impact on our global as well as local environments.