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Review
. 2020 Sep;6(9):e04965.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04965. Epub 2020 Sep 17.

Environmental effects of COVID-19 pandemic and potential strategies of sustainability

Tanjena Rume  1 , S M Didar-Ul Islam  2
Affiliations
Review

Environmental effects of COVID-19 pandemic and potential strategies of sustainability

Tanjena Rume et al. Heliyon. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

The global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is affecting every part of human lives, including the physical world. The measures taken to control the spread of the virus and the slowdown of economic activities have significant effects on the environment. Therefore, this study intends to explore the positive and negative environmental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, by reviewing the available scientific literatures. This study indicates that, the pandemic situation significantly improves air quality in different cities across the world, reduces GHGs emission, lessens water pollution and noise, and reduces the pressure on the tourist destinations, which may assist with the restoration of the ecological system. In addition, there are also some negative consequences of COVID-19, such as increase of medical waste, haphazard use and disposal of disinfectants, mask, and gloves; and burden of untreated wastes continuously endangering the environment. It seems that, economic activities will return soon after the pandemic, and the situation might change. Hence, this study also outlines possible ways to achieve long-term environmental benefits. It is expected that the proper implementation of the proposed strategies might be helpful for the global environmental sustainability.

Keywords: Biomedical waste; COVID-19; Environmental assessment; Environmental management; Environmental pollution; Environmental sustainability; GHGs emission; Lockdown; Public health.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Geographic distribution of 14-day cumulative number of reported COVID-19 cases per 100000 populations, as of September 06, 2020 (Source: ECDC, 2020).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of COVID-19 cases reported weekly by WHO region, and total deaths, up to September 06, 2020 (Data source: WHO, 2020c).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Global example of the number of people (as of April 23, 2020) placed on enforced lockdown during the outbreak of COVID-19 (Data source: Buchholz, 2020).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Positive and negative environmental effects of COVID-19 pandemic.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Coal based electricity generation scenario before and after lockdown in the periphery of Delhi, India, along with total electricity consumption reduction in some selected countries (Data sources: Armstrong, 2020; CREA, 2020).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Proposed strategies of sustainable environmental management.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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