While most people who lived through the era of mandatory facemasks and forced lockdowns would think COVID-19 was terrible news all around, a study by an inter-disciplinary team featuring Professor Ayobami Matthew Olajuyin of the AUN Natural & Environmental Sciences (NES) program, Alum Laila Abubakar from the Politics & International Studies program, and other researchers, has concluded that the pandemic had an indirect positive effect toward sustainable environment. Their study, titled: The impacts of COVID-19 on environmental sustainability: A brief study," was published in Bioresource Technology Reports Volume 15, September 2021, 100713 (Elsevier, PubMed, and Scopus Indexed) with a cite score of 3.8. Laila Abubakar and Ayobami Matthew Olajuyin are the first and corresponding authors, respectively.
"By extension, at-risk ecosystems have been given improved environmental quality. Taken together, the article traces the progression of the virus and ensuing pandemic, in order to better understand how the environment was sustained", the authors asserted.
The authors also argued that the COVID-19 restrictions reined in sources that would have contributed to pollution, including transportation. As a result of the forced closure of numerous businesses, offices, and facilities were able to operate on reduced power during business hours. In developing nations such as Nigeria, where electricity supply is unreliable, many businesses are compelled to rely on alternative energy sources, such as generators that operate on diesel, gasoline, and other fuels. During the prime lockdown periods of the pandemic, when businesses were closed, these alternative energy sources were utilized less frequently, ultimately contributing to the decrease in emissions.
In other words, the environment enjoyed a respite while humans were forced to reduce their activities.
"Certain ecological hotspots have also been given breathing space as a result of the lockdowns and other restrictions imposed in response to COVID-19. On the most basic level, this includes national parks and wildlife conservation centers, which would usually be filled with tourists year-round", according to the study.
Please use this link to read the complete study.