The Worst Man-Made Disasters

Watching the series "Chernobyl" reminded me of what we have made of our surroundings. In the desire of more powerful we are forgetting the consequences of our own creation. From, time to time we hear natural disasters more often, but some of the deadliest disasters in the world are anthropogenic, yes correct that means created by human activity. Not only this the natural disasters nowadays are more intense due to deterioration of natural surroundings and environment. Today we will discuss the worst man-made disasters- 

1) Nuclear Incident Of Chernobyl

On April 26,1986, an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant near Kiev, Ukraine, caused high levels of radiation in the area. At that time government tried to keep the news under the wraps because Ukraine was part of the soviet union. 

Because of their lack of knowledge and irresponsibility, many plant workers and firefighters were exposed to radiation. Within few months, around 30 people died of acute radiation and sickness but thousands and thousands of people were affected. Officials evacuated the local residents of Kiev and Pripyat. It became the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history. The United Nations Chernobyl Forum reported estimated the total number of deaths from cancer caused by radiation exposure to be 4,000. 

2) Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Like Chernobyl, the Bhopal disaster has been called the worst industrial incident in history. On December 2nd, 1984, 45 tons of poisonous methyl isocyanate gas leaked from an insecticide plant in Bhopal, India. This poisonous gas spread all over the area and killed 3,000 people immediately. A total of 15,000 and 20,000 people died, and millions of people survived with respiratory and eye problems. In 2016, decades later, it was reported that the gas leak was not dealt properly, and more than 300 metric tons of waste remained at the site. Because of this, chemical runoff is believed to have contaminated the drinking water in the area which is still creating chronic health problems and birth defects in the area. Even after years and years victims and families protesting against the company CEO and for justice.

3)  Hirochima And Nagasaki- 

Many people won't agree with me keeping this on my list to call the man-made disaster, but In my vision, it is one of the first and soul-taking incidents of the decade. Bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki proved what human is capable of and what war will bring in future. On 6 (08:15 JST) and 9 August 1945 united stated detonated nuclear bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of them were civilians. 

The Hiroshima bomb, known as "Little Boy", contained the equivalent of 12,000 and 15,000 tons of TNT and destroyed an area of 13 sq km (5 sq miles). The survivors faced debilitating health effects and high rates of cancer, their children have high rates of genetic disease. Dr. Jordan's who is conducting research on health implications on the residents here stated that these bombings increase the cancer risk, and reduce the average lifespan of the survirors. 

4) Exxon Valdez Oil Spill-  

No people were harmed when Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker owned by the company Exxon Shipping Company, struck Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound and spilled 11 million gallons of oil, but the loss of wildlife was huge. This spread across 1,300 miles area. 

According to the National park report, 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, 22 killer whales, and billions of salmon died because of pollution from the spill. This incidents effectively ruined the habitats of herring and pink salmon. Even after 30 years, some animals population including birds and whales, have still not recovered. Although no human died of this accidents but has huge impacts on the fishermen in the area, they lost their livelihoods.

5) Dust Storm Of America- 

The land of America before the world war I, mostly been used to raise the cattles and other stock animals. Then, millions of acres were put under plow so that farmers could grow wheat. 

After a decade of healthy rainfall and intense plowing of virgin soil by people with little knowledge of land and environment conditions, hit by the severe drought in American plains. Dry eroded topsoil turned to dust, and when high winds went sweeping through it, creating devastating storms. This storm occurred on April 1935, nicknamed as Black Sunday because of dust storm- hundreds of miles and thousands of feet high that seemed to turn day into night and lasted for several hours. Caused by a combination of nature and human errors, this incident left an estimated people of 500,000 homeless and caused estimate of 2.5 million people to pack and move elsewhere. Pneumonia also spread in the area due to dust know an "brown plague" is also thought to have killed hundreds of people, infants and elderly. 

6) Nuclear Testing Sites In America-

Due to increase in fear for war, countries are making and doing nuclear tests to keep their enemies away. One such case is United states where they conducted 200 nuclear tests in several areas in South and west America including- Nevada, Arizona, Washington, and New Mexico from 1945-1962. Can you imagine 200 sites, which is just unimaginable bombing the area with nuclear powers in 17 years.

Afterwards they discovered that fallout from the tests severely compromised the health of those who worked directly with the hazardous materials, others who worked on-site, and even who lived nearby. The explosion from the radiation from the tests are linked to thyroid cancer and leukemia among people. The number of people died of the incidents always been hazy, so recently university of Arizona economists Keith Meyers put the numbers - 340,000 to 690,000. Congress In 1990 passed the radiation exposure compensation act to pay the tens of thousands of sick Americans and their families $50,000 to $ 100,000 each. But, this compensation can't return the harm to people and nature.

7) Seveso Disaster- 

In Meda, Italy in 1976 a cloudcontaining a kilogram of TCDD, a carcinogenic byproduct of the tricholorophenil used to produce hand soaps, leaked from a chemical plant.

This incidents killed around 77,000 animals as a precaution to prevent chemicals from poisoning the food chain. Over 700 people were evacauted from the nearby area. Children in the area developed chloracne, a skin condition caused by the overexposure to halogenated aromatic compounds often reported by military veterans.

8) Love Canal- 

Hokker chemical Company in New York used Love Canal from, to dispose 21,000 tons of toxic chemicals waste from 1942-1953. In 1978, the New York Times reported that chemicals from the canal has leaked into people's homes, yards, and school playgrounds after years of heavy rainy seasons created toxic puddles.

President Jimmy Carter declared a state of emergency that same year, relocated 239 families, and declared a second state of emergency in 1981 to evacuate the rest of Love Canal's residents, who had been experiencing high rates of miscarriage, birth defects, and diseases such as epilepsy, asthma, migraines, and nephrosis.

9) Asbestos in Montana- 

The toxic asbestors dust from vermiculite mining in Libby, Montana since 1919 killed around 400 people and almost 3,000 people become sick because of the dust of asbestos. The mining company W.R. Grace and Co, distributed vermiculite, which is often used as insulation for the construction of buildings, around playgrounds and backyards in Libby. This mine was shut down in 1990, and the EPA declared a public health emergency in 2008. Cleaning up the tainted vermiculite required deconstruction homes, buildings etc. 

10) The Flint's Water Crisis- 

Officials in Michigan decided to switch the source of Flint's drinking water to the Flint River rather than Detroit city water in 2013. The move was apparently intended to be temporary fix while they waited on the karegnondi water authority's system, which would provide water from Lake Huron.

Residents raised concerns about the new water source almost immediately, and a few months later this water tested positive for coliform bacteria.

Although officials in the city insisted the water level safe after a few months, doctors from the hurley Medical Centre found high level of lead in their blood. Virginia Tech discovered that the water from the flint river likely corroding the lead in pipes, which is the reason causing to poised the residents between- 2014-2015.

This is also blamed for increase in severe type of pneumonia known as Legionnaires Disease. This further was released by PBS in 2018, that 90 people were made sick and 12 people killed. Additonally, around 119 death were reported that year due to pneumonia caused by legionella bacteria in the water. 

Today the water has been reported to ve acceptable level, but many have expressed doubt over its safety. 

These are just some incidents that are reported and can be analyzed. But, there are so many cases of man-made disasters killing people and environment directly or indirectly on daily basis. The act of humans are continuously harming the wildlife and natural habitats, they are dying and the reasons are us. The act of human and number of disasters we created in history time to time are unmeasurable.

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Radon: Indoor Air Pollutant

In my previous blog, I wrote about indoor air pollution. We know that indoor air is not better than outdoor air and sometimes even worse. The pollutants present are- Radon, Molds, Volatile organic compound( VOCs), Carbon monoxide, Dust particles. In this post, we will talk about the pollutant Radon which is natural radioactive noble gas. Radon is a colorless, odorless, dense gas, and the primary source of indoor pollution. 

Radon in outdoor quickly dilutes in the atmosphere where it is not a problem. Due to the small space radon concentration indoor is quite high. The outdoor radon concentration ranges from 5-15 Bq/m3 and 10-10,000 Bq/m3 for indoor. 

Science of radon decaying- 

Radon is produced by the natural decay of uranium found in rock and soil. Decay starts with uranium-238 forms thorium-234, protactinium- 234m, uranium -234, thorium-230, radium-226, and radon -222. Radon on further decaying by emission of alpha and beta particles to- polonium-218, bismuth, and lead known as radon progenies or daughters.

Radon in air and water-

Radon is carcinogenic in nature so its monitoring is necessary in risk areas. Radon has numerous sources- uranium we already discussed, other sources are construction materials like- cement, sand, granite, tiles, cooking gas, and groundwater. Radon and progenies escape from the pores on the surface called emanation and mix with gases like- carbon dioxide and methane which further diffuse in the atmosphere by crossing the soil-air boundary. Radon also mixes with underground water making water unhealthy for drinking.

Health effects of radon- 

Radon is one of the most important chemical responsible for lung cancer in non-smokers. With an increase in the number of lung cancer among non-smokers, the attention shifted towards air pollution. According, to a study among nationwide cases of lung cancer 52.1% are non-smoker, 41.8% in male, and 88% in females. According to the director of AIIMS, this increase in the number of lung cancer is related to indoor air pollution and the same stat can be seen in outdoor air pollution. 

Radon and progenies when breath get trapped in the lungs and with time they start decaying by emitting alpha and beta radiation changing the DNA and causing lung cancer. Radon when mixes with water can cause stomach cancer. 

Radon statistics for some Indian states-

State	Max ( Bq/ m3)	Min ( Bq/m3)
Andra Pradesh	41.8	6.4
Assam	88.7	43.7
Bihar	92.6	7.4
Chandigarh	29.9	19.3
Delhi	39.8	12.7
Haryana	96.8	7.0
Himachal Pradesh	43.6	10.4
Karnataka	56.9	16.7
Maharastra	35.2	7.6
Madhya Pradesh	45.8	12.2
Orissa	64.8	14.6
Punjab	93.0	9.0
Uttrakhand	212.0	36.0
Uttar Pradesh	95.4	10.5
West Bengal	95.4	6.4

Indoor Radon level in dwellings using cup dosimeter ( Ramachandran et al 1995)

Reducing radon content- 

A proper ventilation system is the best way to remove radon from indoors. Exhaust fans and electric purifiers can dissipate gas from indoor to outdoor. This is the best and easy way to reduce radon concentration. Since there is no such threshold value for this gas inside the house even a small quantity of this gas can be harmful. The safe limit suggests keeping this level at zero but 0-48 Bq/ m3 is considered normal. According to WHO the radon level should not exceed 300 Bq/ m3. 

Radon gas moves inside the home through cracks and gaps, so it is advisable to seal floorings and walls to keep the concentration below the safe level. 

According to study-"Atlas for radon" which is conducted for different types of construction materials is analyzed for contributing in radon content-

1) Plaster and whitewash (wall) with mosaic cement/mosaic wood/ mosaic tile flooring- Significant contribution.

2) Mosaic floor with plaster whitewash/ wood flooring-Significant contribution.

3) Wood wall with mosaic/cement flooring- small contribution.

4) Plaster and paint (wall) with cement and mosaic flooring- No contribution.

So it is advisable to choose the appropriate construction materials for your house.

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Myths About Pollution

Environment and pollution-related topics get modified with time and we receive a new set of data/analysis. When I read papers or articles on the subject I always learn new things, and with time the theory gets modified or sometimes changes giving us a completely new perspective. But, certain things are not true so separating the myths and the facts-

1) Indoor air quality is better than outdoor-  Unfortunately No!! We spend almost 12 hours per day indoor and according to the epa.gov indoor air can be as bad as outdoor air and sometimes even worse. The major indoor air pollutants are- Radon, Molds, Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), Carbon monoxide, and dust particles.  

The main sources and of these pollutants- 

a) Radon- Result from the soil floor due to the presence of uranium. It can also release from the buildings granites. 

b) Molds- Growing in the presence of humidity. Most common in Public offices and schools. 

c) Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)- These are the chemical gases emitted from processes or products like- Disinfectants,  Air fresheners, Dehumidifiers, Paints Varnishes, Flooring, and even furnishers. 

d) Carbon Monoxide- These arise from generators, vehicles, and nearby industry. 

e) Dust- These are the result of smoking,  construction nearby, Fireplaces, vacuuming, and other activities.

If you want to keep track of the pollution level at home. IoT based monitoring can give you real-time data and can alarm you when the threshold value is reached. 

2) Poor air quality occurs in the winter season only- Not true!! We face poor air quality throughout the year. And if you are living in cities like- Delhi, Kanpur, Faridabad, etc. you might not breathe good air even a single day in the whole year.

So, why winter is troublesome the reasons are because of the phenomenon like- winter inversion and in some areas 'valley' effect. During winters our planetary boundary layer is thinner as the cooler air near the earth's surface is dense. This cooler air is trapped under warm air forms a kind of lid. This phenomenon is called as winter inversion. Due to this phenomenon air pollutants trapped in this cold region and cannot escape to a larger region. 

3) Surgical mask can protect us from air pollution- Definitely no!! Surgical masks have a pore size of 5-10 micrometers whereas the pollutants have pore size 2.5 micrometers or less. According to the study, these surgical masks allow approximately 68% of pollutants to leak inside. Masks like N95, N99, or anti-pollution mask can prevent approximately 95% of pollutants. 

4) Electric vehicles do not pollute- Not True!! the actual pollution is related to the main source of energy. If the electric vehicles are charged using a thermal power plant that burns fossil fuels also contributes to pollution in the atmosphere. If these are charged using renewable energy sources then we definitely minimizing the pollution. Therefore the overall impact of electric vehicles on the environment is less. 

5) Papers bags are better than plastic bags- Since the awareness of plastic waste threat, we are now switching to paper bags. But, switching to paper bags which seems a better and more natural option to us is a myth. Compared to plastic paper production emit more greenhouse gases. Paper production requires harmful chemicals and uses three times more water than plastic. The recycle option of paper are not efficient, this process requires more energy and become trash after their lifecycle. 

6) Plastic takes 1000 years to decompose- many organizations claim that plastic products take approximately 400-1000 years to decompose. But recent studies on microplastic suggests that plastic does not decompose but rather breaks down into tiny and very tiny particles. So the plastic we use today will eventually become part of our ecosystem and bodies.

7) Our contribution hardly matters- Let's think why we are facing this issue in the first place. The demand for vehicles, lifestyles, and the products we are using now are somewhere impacting the environment. We all know the situation now but still, we hardly give a thought over the matter. We are giving preferences to the growth in better products for lifestyle and less towards the environment. Even a small contribution towards this direction will have a huge impact. And, yeah you are not alone many people out there doing their parts to save our nature and home. 

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Our Daily Dose Of Air Pollution

We all know where India stands for its pollution level. We are among the most polluted cities in the world with a range higher 17 times the safe WHO limit. Our country has some major pollution policy loopholes in our system, sometimes we don't have the technology or system or mind or can be all of them at once. 

So, what makes our cities so polluted? and how deadly they are. If we talk about the pollution we cannot ignore Delhi, but do you know its not the most polluted city in India according to WHO 2019 it's Ghaziabad(U.P.) although both cities share the same geographical region. Delhi being the capital city is always given some special attention. The major factors for pollution in this region are- vehicle emission, industrial pollution, burning of crops, thermal power plants, bad wind flow, infrastructure, firecrackers, and overpollution.

Air pollution results from a complex mixture of thousands of pollutants. This includes carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides (NO2 and NOx ), sulfur dioxide, ozone, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter. According to CEEW, road dust contributes to the major portion of particulate matters (30-60%) followed by transport and industries. But, these atmospheric aerosols do not contribute to climate change instead these pollutants reduce the radiative flux of the sun. Insofar as NOx and sulfur dioxide are concerned industries are the major contributors to their emission. And, for hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide vehicles contributes most. 

If we talk about the effects of air pollution we know it can cause diseases like- cancer, asthma, bronchitis, and many more. But can we estimate its effect on a daily basis? A team of The Guardian monitored the exposure of PM2.5 on auto-rickshaw in Delhi for the duration of 12 hours and tested the lungs of the driver, which gave some shocking results. The instrument measured PM2.5 which exceeds 400 in some areas which is extremely hazardous. 

If you want to check how much pollution you are inhaling in terms of the number of cigarettes then there is an app "Shit, I smoke" which takes data of your nearest station and using the mathematical model deduce how many cigarettes you been smoking. Although the calculation may not be very accurate but gives the idea for a layman. So, if you are living in a high pollution area even a small walk to the park or grocery store means smoking an average of 35 cigarettes daily in the winter season.

I also tried this app on my phone, I checked for my location, Delhi, and Mumbai. The results show that people in Mumbai are smoking more cigarettes than Delhi which is contradictory to real AQI of the areas, location inaccuracy should also blame for this. The improved numbers are due to national lockdown in the country.

You can also try this app on your phone and check for pollution estimates in your area and share it with me. 

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Microplastics They're Everywhere

Microplastics are small fragments of plastic that are less than 5mm in size. Richard Thompson a marine biologist introduced the term microplastic, which started with his interest in marine debris. He and his team searched for the smallest sample of plastic they can find near the beach. They noticed that the small particles are not sand; later confirmed that they were plastic pieces.

How They Enter Our System? 

Microplastics are either formed by the fragmentation of larger plastic or produced industrially to use in our cosmetic, paints, fabrics, toothpaste and many more products.

Health Effects

Effect of microplastic on health and environment are one hand ahead than plastic we daily use. They have the tendency to pass from mother to fetus through placenta. Microplastic can leach harmful chemicals like bisphenol and phthalates that can interfere with the hormonal activity of men/women. Due to the hydrophobic nature of microplastic, it can accumulate chemicals like polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and organochlorine pesticides that can cause cancer, weak immune system, and hormonal issues.

Microplastic In Consumer Products

They act as bulking agent, increasing volume of the product. They also help in controlling viscosity, adhesive strength, for aesthetics, and forming thick layers. Many countries like US, UK, Canada, Sweden, Finland, France, and Iceland already banned the use of microplastic in consumer products. India on the other hand, have some handful of research studies which proved microplastic unfit to use in consumer products still have no green flag from the government to ban this ingredient.

New Delhi based organization Toxic Link which has done their research on consumer products like Facewash, toothpaste, body wash, face mask, and leave on lotions confirmed 50% of facewash and 67% percent of facial scrubs contain microplastic.

How Can We Check Microplastic In Our Products?

Until the government banned this product, we should check ingredient in our product for microplastic. The most commonly used microbeads (microplastic) in India is Polyethylene(PE) beads. Other common microbeads are-

• Polyethylene terephthalate(PET)
• Polypropylene(PP)
• Polymethyl Methacrylate(PMMA)
• Nylon(PA)

How Much We Are Consuming?

According to WWF, on average we are consuming 100,000 microplastics every year which means we are consuming approximately 5gm (equivalent to credit card) a week and just more than 250gm per year. This varies according to where you live and your eating habits. In India more than 80% of tap water contains plastic fibers, which means 4 plastic fibers per 500 ml of water. A study on 259 bottled drinking water from 19 locations in 9 countries shows an average of 325 particles. In one bottle the concentration was 10,000 particles per liter. You must be thinking that this must be local companies, but NO all tested samples were from big brands like-Pepsico, Nestle, and Bisleri.

 A colorful microfibre of plastic found in bottled water

Steps We Can Take

Research shows that people who consume water from plastic bottles have more concentration of plastic particles in their body so first thing- Stop using plastic bottles. Cosmetic products contain microbeads that runoff and enter the ecosystem as microplastics so if you see any, discard them. Washing and machine drying synthetic- clothes also shred microplastic fibers, as a solution we can switch to non-synthetic fibers and air dry our clothes. Limit your consumption of Fish and Meat.

Plastic has already entered our system and become an inevitable part of lifestyle but why can’t we switch to more organic way? To deal with our requirements. Just because it’s cheap and available easily, that’s just crazy since we are spending far more money to recover from its effect.

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EARTH DAY- Let's Celebrate With Our Family

It's Earth Day week and the best time to show your creativity and explore interesting facts about our planet with the family and kids. Let's discuss the history of this day. Earth Day founded in 1970 by senator Gaylord Nelson who was determined to make environmental agendas effective in the federal government. He envisioned mass demonstrations among the students which proved as a successful event with the participation of 20 million people including local communities.

Starting the day with the theme of earth day 2020 'Climate Action' pick your favorite and shared with the warriors around you-

1) Trash picking-  Search the area around for trash and throw them in the right place. Teach your kids and family the segregation of waste and why it's important. 

2) Plant a tree- planting trees are the best and easiest way to tackle the problem of climate change. They also provide shelter and food for animals and birds. Don't worry if you cannot go outside, you can go for unused containers available, water your seeds until it's possible to plant them outside.

3) Home Safari- Pick your favorite animals and create the idea of safari in your house. You can go with coloring animals and learning fun facts that you didn't know. 

4) Learn about soil- Take your shovel and let's head to the kitchen garden where mom takes care of your favorite vegetables. Learn about the types of soil in your area. What makes them best for plant growth. And yes safety first!

5) Discuss the work of people- You can learn and share how people around the world contributing their work for the environment. Whether its activist, philanthropist, scientist, or anyone around you.

6) Watch Documentaries and read books- There are plenty of documentaries like -Our planet (My favorite), Voice of Amazon, Trashed, etc. Books like- The ends of worlds (Peter Brannen), The great smog of India (Siddharth Singh), How to give up plastic (Will Mccalum), etc.

7) Bioblitz- You can organize a small event for your kids to find the maximum number of species living in a particular area over a period of time it need not be 24 hours. Divide your observation for a certain number of days. Carry your animal encyclopedia and please do not harm any species during the event.

8) Endangered species- Extinction is a natural process, but due to excessive human activities, it crosses 1000 times the natural rate. Analyze the species you don't see more often than they used to a decade ago. Teach your kids about endangered species, programs to save them, and how can we contribute. 

9) Listen to your kids- Once you celebrated this day your way, listen to your kids what are their plans to save our earth. Either you laugh or will surprise by the thoughts of your child. 

Don't forget this is not a one day task- Only our habits can save our planet. Your small step will contribute a huge impact on the movement.

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How Coronavirus Healing Our Environment!!

We all are living in a time when we face the global pandemic happening. In our never-ending progress, there was no chance of our world to heal at such a rapid rate. Our nature is itself a healer but, humans didn't leave a space for this process to occur. Nature trying to heal the things we damage and in the meantime, we damage more.

I live in a small village in India, where we are under 21 days of lockdown. There is complete silence on roads, I am writing the article in my room where I can hear the voice of the birds louder every day. The skies are blue but the color is different from the everyday. I can see the clouds rising high from the lands and they look so white like never before. I am sure that everyone must be feeling the same way.

Ok, this is the change around us. Let's talk about how Coronavirus creating a major shift on our planet everywhere. Let's talk about china where it all started.

1) China- The shutdown of factories, power plants, manufacturing units, and vehicles results in a huge drop in air pollution. According to NASA, there is approximately a drop of 10-20 percent of NO2 level in central and eastern china which itself saves a million people.

2) Europe- which has become a new center for this pandemic also witness a huge drop in air pollution. In certain parts, the NO2 level is almost negligible. In the UK PM2.5 reduces half of its average value at this time of year.

3) India- which has 6 out of 10 world's most polluted cities in the world breath clear air amid lockdown. Delhi the most polluted city in India also witnesses a huge drop in the air pollution level with PM2.5 reading 64µg/m3 on March 29, which is considered moderate or acceptable. The AQI reading shows 65 on March 29 which was above 200 before the lockdown.

The biggest change scientist confirms is the healing of the ozone layer over Antarctica. Ozone layer depletion is the major contributor to the change in rain patterns and severe drought in countries like Australia. It changes the route of jet streams and shifts to the southern hemisphere. Due to surge in the harmful chemicals in air scientists confirms a small peak in the hole of the ozone layer in 2019 since 1987 which now seems stable after the lockdown. Recent simulation proves that the hole is not moving south and reversing the effect.

So, if we look at the world before the lockdown and after the lockdown, there is a huge difference- less pollution, noise and some space to nature. Lockdown not only shows the true state of where we belong but the picture of the carbon-free future. I really hope that humanity understands that progress is important but we have to pay the cost if we trade it with our environment.

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