Covid-19 pandemic has caused the revolution around the globe. A revolution that not only hit the politics but our environment and economies too. A global challenge that every country across the world had to jointly fight. In history, humans never ever have cared for its sanitation and conservation of natural habitat, but it was a result of human atrocities and mishappenings in past. It was more than a natural disaster that engulfed thousands of lives and put world powers in fear of insurgency. Pandemic has brought an evolution in human behaviours and changes in every aspect of our lives.
In 2019, when the viral disease caused an outbreak in Wuhan the Chinese government had declared a medical emergency in the whole country. Initially, paramedics were shocked by the symptoms that patients were showing and started to collect information about its spread. Medical teams had begun their research instantly. It was normed that it was spread from the bat meat being sold in the Wuhan market. Which caused legal and executive authorities to investigate and this led to the never-ending lockdown.
Public life was most affected by this disease as countries took uncertain decisions in their policymaking to tackle pandemics. All shopping marts, transport and public crowded places were closed including the offices and educational institutions to control the spread. Uncommonly, several marts were sealed and charged heavy fines due to poor sanitation and hygiene. Sanitation got attention among the people and they were instructed to wear face masks and get their hands washed every time. People with symptoms of the virus had quarantined themselves at home and were used to avoid the gathering.
Due to the increase in demand for detergents and soaps then soap companies were directed to fill the supply chain on an urgent basis. The demand for soap goods was 10x times increased while before this pandemic people were not much caring and serious about sanitation. Hence, there was a huge usage of water in this period and to fulfil the need for water consumption government also resolved the water crisis issues in several areas of the country.
Pandemic moved us to a new path of innovation which made contactless delivery possible. It was the first time that businesses and institutions experienced emerging and advanced technologies. Certain government policies made a new path for distance learning and business sectors were shifted to online management systems. Several schools and universities adopt the online system of learning. Initially, it was problematic to learn through slow network connectivity but thanks to telecom engineers that resolved the issue quickly with the advent of 5G wireless technology. Ministry of IT and Telecommunication has directed telecom companies to provide cheap data bundles in COVID-19 for ease of students to take online classes at home. Advancement in our work systems brought improvements in sanitation in a way that people continued their work at homes.
The most effective policy was the closing of transportation and industries. We should thank the pandemic that gave us a live view of improvement in the formation of the Ozone layer. We were able to see that how the world had looked without air pollution. Global warming and ozone degradation have always been ignored in several past years, but it now seems to be improving due to limited transportation. Pandemic resulted in a huge fall in prices of petroleum products. There was less fuel consumption due to freeze in transportation. Hence, major oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia and Russia were indulged in the political race to sell their barrels of oil. In this regard, Pakistani government policies were object-oriented and rational enough to take advantage of time. Hence, cheap oil reserves were imported in exchange for goods.
Degradation in Carbon emissions has put a positive impact on the climate. In Covid-19, -0.08^C was recorded as a fall in temperature. The melting of Ice Glaciers in the Antarctic region has been slowed down and rainfalls were recorded in dry areas of the world. In some parts of the world, lakes and ponds that had been a natural habitat for fishes are once again filled up with rainwater. Not only this, people in this pandemic voluntarily cultivated thousands of plants and trees to keep the earth greener. Our government has been involved in several programs to plant trees but still, there is a lack of efficiency in resolving deforestation.
In COVID-19, Government should have used smart ways of planting. For example, We individuals can use “Seed Bombing” which is a great aerial method to plant trees because it is much cheaper, quicker, and easier than the traditional way of planting.
In a nutshell, we should feel proud that in COVID-19 we improved ourselves in terms of climate awareness, provision of water, health, and sanitation. We people got the privilege to see the recovery of Ozone in our atmosphere. For the first time, we were able to cease the extinction of rare wild species and take control. People had taken part in social programs to use their time productively. Importantly, Youth came out to work on sustainable energy effectively and produced many ideas. The government invested in the research of water and its provision for domestic or industrial purposes. Health officers and the community had strong cooperation in a way that they both understood each other’s needs and the importance of life. Communities became more curious about their sanitation works.