What are the effects of COVID-19 on the environment?

Abstract

Contrary to the socio-economic aspects of the coronavirus crisis, the environment has comparably attracted lesser attention. To the question, if there is a silver lining to the global pandemic, existing data and studies show that the environment is an unanticipated beneficiary that gives a glimmer of hope for the post-COVID-19 period. Acknowledging the difficulties in conducting in-depth evaluations over the environmental impacts as the pandemic still unfolds, some preliminary inferences can be drawn. The aim of this paper is to outline and analyse the indirect effects of COVID-19 on the environment for a better understanding and knowledge during the lockdown at the international level. Indicatively, some of the positive effects are met in the decrease of GHG emissions, the fall of fossil fuel consumption, the improved air and water quality, and the re-emergence of wildlife. On the other hand, key challenges lie in the significant increase in medical waste, waste management, and environmental pollution.

Assessing Air Quality in Greece in Times of a Global Pandemic

“…2020) on Greece, two of its major cities, Athens and Thessaloniki are situated at the top 20% of the highest polluted areas in OECD countries. Unexpectedly, the advent of the pandemic appears to have left a positive footprint thus resulting in a reduction of GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions, a cleaner atmosphere, and improved air quality (Melidis, 2020;Melidis and Tzagkarakis, 2020). The aim of this paper is to investigate, compare and analyse air quality in three Greek cities focusing on the average monthly concentrations of three air pollutants (NO2, PM2.5, and PM10) across two years, pre (2019) and during (2020) the pandemic.…”

A Comparative Analysis of COVID-19 Effects on air Pollution in Ten EU Cities in 2020

“…His work and research interests are focused on the analysis and implementation of environmental policies in EU, Greece, and the UK. 168 (Melidis, 2020). On the other hand, some of the negative effects are met in the increased use of singleuse plastics, the rise in household and medical waste and waste management (Saadat et al, 2020).…”