Due to the coronavirus lockdowns, many countries put in place. While people are advised to stay at their homes, the world healed up a little bit with holes in the ozone layer closing up, air qualities becoming better in so many places around the globe, and even Venice's waters clearing as people were not allowed outside.
Healing Under COVID-19 Lockdown
With the quality of air getting better, big cities in some countries around the world were able to capture their surroundings better and were even able to see distant landmarks that they weren't able to see before due to the smog and air pollution.
In a past report by TechTimes, NASA confirmed that the air above China had already cleared significantly during the time when the country was under lockdown, further backing up the claims that it happened because of the stay-at-home orders.
Even wildlife was able to come out of their hiding places and have started roaming around cities and neighborhoods due to the lack of people going out and about.
Nevertheless, we don't exactly know the full effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment, and that is what several groups of researchers want to find out with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) backing them up.
NASA Supporting Different Initiatives
According to Engadget, NASA will be supporting four different research projects aimed to understand how the coronavirus pandemic affected the world, especially with the level of pollution.
These studies will be relying on NASA's satellites as well as some of their data resources.
One of the research projects will focus on the uneven gains in the air quality in different places around the globe by connecting satellite data to traffic, weather, and other information.
Another research will combine meteorological and satellite data to determine how much air pollution has been affected and how much it has been reduced.
The third project will focus on discovering whether the lowered levels of air pollution have any effect on water quality, while the last initiative will be using light pollution satellite data to examine the effectiveness of stay-at-home orders and its socioeconomic impact.
Importance of These Studies
But why are these research projects important, and how can they help us?
According to the news outlet, these studies will help create different decisions when the pandemic is over, such as creating new policies for air travel to continue reducing the levels of air pollution and improving its quality.
In addition, the water study could also influence environmental decisions and regulations.
In general, NASA wants to support these studies in the hope that these initiatives could have a long-lasting impact on us and our surroundings.
Although the COVID-19 lockdown is causing us extreme troubles, it appears as though the Earth is benefiting immensely from the lack of air and land travel and human activities that tend to increase pollutants.
Countries around the world are starting to lift lockdowns and re-opening their doors. Still, until the virus is completely gone, activities and traveling will likely remain rare, which could give more time for our planet to continue healing.
