Environmental Impact Of Corona

10 posts / 0 new

Fri, 2020-05-22 21:42

Aristotleded24

When people think of the impact of coronavirus on the natural world, they talk about things like reduced air pollution, animals expanding their territorial range, and reduced carbon emissions. Those are good things, but there are also problems.

Think about PPEs. These require extraction of more resources in order to make. Gloves are also made of synthetic materials that are not biodegradable. Where will these increased gloves go? Even when I bought face masks the other day, I noticed that they were made of polyester. That is a synthetic thread. Where will all of these masks end up when they are used or the pandemic ends? Also think about the trees that have been cut for toilet paper. More paper towels will be thrown out as everyone is cleaning surfaces much more often. Also think about sanitation wipes, which we are using more of. Where will they end up. Finally, we've also seen images of people in haz-mat suits disinfecting everything in sight, from benches to streets to sidewalks. That disinfecant material is going to circulate throughout the natural world. What kind of impact will that have? On biodiversity? On human health?

We really need to think this through.

Sun, 2020-05-24 14:53

kropotkin1951

Interesting questions. I think that increased germaphobia will lead to substantially less deaths from seasonal flu every year. I don't know what other people use to clean for COVID but I use rubbing alcohol at full strength and I don't believe it will have any lasting effect on the environment.

If this pandemic causes the North American oil and gas industry to cease its every increasing production of the dirtiest carbon on the planet, the environmental impact will be well into the plus side of the equation.

Sat, 2020-05-30 15:53

Aristotleded24

Is oil production going to go down if people start throwing out old things and insist in purchasing everything new and avoiding second-hand items for fear of being infected with covid?

Sat, 2020-05-30 20:32

(Reply to #3) #4

kropotkin1951

Aristotleded24 wrote:

Is oil production going to go down if people start throwing out old things and insist in purchasing everything new and avoiding second-hand items for fear of being infected with covid?

I hope our population is not that stupid. The virus only lives on objects for days not weeks or months. You would have more change of contacting the virus by shopping for new stuff. Clothes are easy since all they need is a good wash in soap. If my FB feed is any indication there might be a lot of people needing larger clothes but that also means deals on second hand items.

Sat, 2020-05-30 21:31

laine lowe laine lowe's picture

In terms of used goods, I would be more worried about bed bugs. Those suckers are nearly impossible to destroy. CORVID lasts on fabric no more than 72 hours, less on plastics and less than 24 hours on copper (go figure).

Sat, 2020-05-30 22:19

(Reply to #5) #6

Aristotleded24

kropotkin1951 wrote:
Aristotleded24 wrote:

Is oil production going to go down if people start throwing out old things and insist in purchasing everything new and avoiding second-hand items for fear of being infected with covid?

I hope our population is not that stupid.

That might be hoping for too much, given how much panic and paranoia the media has instilled about how coronavirus is this big threat and it's the only thing in the world worth worrying about.

laine lowe wrote:
In terms of used goods, I would be more worried about bed bugs. Those suckers are nearly impossible to destroy. CORVID lasts on fabric no more than 72 hours, less on plastics and less than 24 hours on copper (go figure).

Thank you for that reminder. We are so over-focused on corona that we are forgetting about everything else and that there were other hazards we should concern ourselves with, and hazards that we should still concern ourselves with.

Mon, 2020-06-01 11:01

Aristotleded24

PPE is ending up in the ocean

Sat, 2020-06-06 20:32

Aristotleded24

Want another environmental impact? Public water fountains have been disabled. That means people are going to buy more bottled water as they move about in public to the extent they can, and more plastic bottles at the bottom of the ocean.

Sun, 2020-06-07 20:30

Aristotleded24

This is really great for the environment:

Quote:

Over at Dakota Lanes bowling alley in Winnipeg, disposable shoes are being offered "for those that don't feel comfortable wearing shoes that 1,000 other people have worn," said owner Chad VanDale.

More like slippers, they slide over a person's socks and are good for about two uses.

"They're not constructed well enough for somebody to use them forever so they will fall apart. But you know, it's $4 to rent shoes or $5.99 to have your own pair," VanDale said.

Bowlers are asked to stop at a check-in desk, where staff will spray their hands with sanitizer, then go straight to an assigned lane, where staff will bring shoes and any food or drink orders.

When done, bowlers leave everything at the lane for staff to clean and wipe. Balls will be sanitized after every game but not during because only small groups can bowl together and they are presumably comfortable around each other, VanDale said. Vacant lanes will separate different groups.

Don't we have a large enough problem with needless waste as it is? Why are we obsessing over shoes when covid is a resipratory disease?

Sun, 2020-12-13 13:58

#10

Aristotleded24

This should surprise nobody:

Quote:

On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency declined to put in place stricter regulations on coal. This is despite the evolving evidence that air pollution is correlated with worse Covid-19 outcomes.

Ecological studies have shown that even a small increase in exposure to particulate matter of 1 µg/m3 (PM2.5) in the air leads to an 8% increase in Covid-related mortality. A study out of Yale yields similar findings that improved air quality during the quarantine period in China avoided a total of 8,911 NO2-related deaths, 65% of which were from cardiovascular diseases (hypertensive disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (emphysema and bronchitis).

The urgency of improving public health could not be more obvious at the present moment where Covid-related deaths near a quarter million at the writing of this article. Yet the present administration has engaged nature in battle with a series of ill-advised policies targeting environmental protections from siding with fossil fuel industry to pulling out of the Paris agreement.