Could corona be the silver lining for our eco-system?

Corona forces us to slow down - could our eco-system be benefiting? We may have found a silver lining to the current pandemic.

The coronavirus is a terrible crisis both for humanity and economically; however, one potentially beneficial side-effect of the outbreak is that it forces us to slow down. During these trying times, it is important to endeavour to keep a positive mindset. In an effort to do so, I have been reflecting whether our eco-system could, in any way, be benefiting from this forced global slowdown. Is it possible that we have we found a silver lining to the current pandemic? With all the doom and gloom, I felt it was important to share some positive findings that I have discovered and have given me new hope.

Sealife starts to flourish

According to NewsNow, as a result of the lockdown imposed on all vessels due to the coronavirus outbreak, dolphins have reappeared, after four decades of absence, frolicking along the Adriatic Coast of Italy (image was taken in my birthplace, Trieste).

Reuters reports that seawater is clear in Venice's canals due to fewer tourists, motorboats and pollution, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread.

There have been reports of shoals of fish have also been spotted in the canals of Venice. The absence of boats and cruise ships is believed to have allowed fish to return to their natural habitat. 

Air pollution

Satellite images released by NASA reveal that air pollution over China has gone down dramatically since the coronavirus outbreak.

Similar images have been released by the European Space Agency satellite, Copernicus, showing a significant reduction in air pollution in Lombardy, Italy (in line with a clear decrease of NO₂ levels) after the countrywide lockdown implemented by the Italian Government to contain the spread of Covid19.

Could isolation be in any way beneficial to us humans?

Analogous to the sea and air being cleared from pollutants, the imposed lockdown could free humanity from the overload of stimulants we have been increasingly exposed to over the years.

This global crisis is our opportunity to use this time to cleanse our minds, de-stress, re-centre and find again our natural balance.

Our planet, its atmosphere and our lives have been worked beyond their natural capacity. Our whole eco-system has been out of balance for a long time and we have seen the disastrous effects of climate change. Our eco-system appears desperate to get back into balance and is appearing to claim its balance back.

This is perhaps a message to humanity to simply 'slow down' and live more consciously and sustainably.

We cannot change the situation, but we can take this time to think about what we ‘can do’ and why it matters.

A question to leave you with whilst we have this extra time on our hands:

Can the coronavirus isolation be used to train our minds and strengthen us?

These are testing times. What feelings are going to lead our actions? Solidarity or self-survival instincts? Are we going to succumb to anxiety and fear, or will we focus on love, kindness and solidarity?

The choice is ours.

Let us use this forced isolation to train our minds, strengthen them, learn to control them (instead of the other way around) and make them resilient. This will also help us unlock creativity and maybe even put our digital tools to creative uses and thus build bridges between isolation and human social interaction.