News channels and social media feeds are quick to point out the negatives, but we’re here to tell you at coronavirus has actually resulted in a bunch of positives for planet Earth.
Lowered pollution…
Transport makes up 23% of the world’s global carbon emissions, but thanks to airports closing and companies like Emirates grounding their flights, there are a lot less planes in the sky, meaning a lot less air pollutants and greenhouse gases being emitted. In fact, not only has this led to less pollution in the air, but air quality has improved significantly, and the earth’s ozone layer is cooling down and recovering.
Sea turtles lay sixty million eggs thanks to empty beaches…
Thanks to India going into lockdown, along the coast of the eastern state of Odisha, over 475,000 endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles have come ashore to dig their nests and lay eggs – all sixty million of them, according to The Mind Unleashed.
Mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtles in Odisha coast while nation is at 21 day lockdown. #Nature #21daylockdown #pandemia pic.twitter.com/z7ihzOYu0E
— Harikrishnan S (@_harikrishnan_s) March 26, 2020
The Venice canals are clearer than ever…
Italy may be suffering from some of the worst cases of coronavirus, but perhaps a small victory for the country is that the canals of Venice now boast crystal clear waters. Several people have uploaded photos to a Facebook group called Venezia Pulita (literally translating to Clean Venice), where they share beautiful images of the water, which are now populated with little dish, and inspirational messages. “Nature resumes it’s life….how beautiful,” wrote one user.
The coronavirus pandemic has had an unexpected side effect in Venice—where the normally cloudy canals have transformed into water crystal clear enough to see fish swimming below. https://t.co/qrr8iphSPd pic.twitter.com/37H7iiB09Y
— ABC News (@ABC) March 18, 2020
Stingrays spotted in Dubai Marina and Business Bay
A school of Oman cownose rays were spotted by Dubai residents, thanks to fewer people and boats crowding the waters. Ashish Ranjan, a resident in Dubai, shared a video of the rays in Dubai Marina.
Shortly after, another video emerged showing a larger group spotted in Business Bay.
Spotted in Dubai, Business Bay (not our video, via @nononaonao but cool enough to share!) Beautiful Rays taking advantage of the quiet time. It looks like not everyone is home schooling!
Let's hope not everything goes back to normal! #addBOOSTplus #carbonemissions pic.twitter.com/kR5JhN6SAj
— BOOSTplus by Selcoms (@SelcomsDWC) April 4, 2020
Flamingos are thriving…
Lagoons in Albania have seen their flamingo flock numbers increase by a third in the absense of invasive tourists and boating activity.
Florida bears are out and about
With less people and traffic to disturb them, bears in Florida have started venturing out a little further than normal and have been adventur-ing in more suburban areas, neighbourhoods and even gardens.