CLICK HERE if you’re having trouble viewing media on a mobile device.
Environments across the planet are slowly healing amid the coronavirus pandemic while humans stay-at-home to flatten curves and protect the health of others, according to several reports.
This Earth Day, there’s much positive news to report on the state of the planet. The recent events fit into a longterm trend as the day, celebrated for the past 50 years, has led to undeniable improvements, according to the Associated Press.
Around the world, seismologists in the last month observed less ambient seismic noise, CNN reported. Earth’s upper crust is shaking less in the absence of vibrations generated by cars, trains, buses and people going about their daily lives. That’s allowing scientists to record smaller seismic events and providing evidence that millions are, in fact, following pandemic-related shelter-in-place orders.
Above ground, cities and scientists are reporting cleaner air and water. In the Bay Area, the EPA Air Quality Index has reported nine counties bathed in green on its color scale every day between March 14 and March 23. The region’s good quality air rating lasting as many days in a row is rare.
Local air-quality sensors measuring particulate matter also showed the lowest average readings of any week so far in 2020 — down 21% in Oakland, 36% in San Jose and 41% in San Francisco from the week before. Bluer skies trended recently across the U.S., China, India and Italy as stay-at-home orders slowed economic activity that contributed to pollution.
Meanwhile, wild goats in North Wales, monkeys in Thailand, bobcats and bears at Yosemite and coyotes in San Francisco signal wildlife reclaiming territory worldwide.
In spite of all the news suggesting planetary restoration, scientists remain concerned about the harmful effects of “revenge pollution” that may follow the easing of shelter-in-place restrictions and, locally, a historic megadrought.
For more political cartoons, CLICK HERE
