ENVIRONMENTAL RESILIENCE AND TRANSFORMATION IN TIMES OF COVID-19
CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTIONALITY
AL. Ramanathan
School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Sabarathinam Chidambaram
Water Research Centre, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat, Kuwait
M.P. Jonathan
Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo (CIIEMAD), Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), Ciudad de México (CDMX), México
M.V. Prasanna
Department of Applied Geology, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT 250, Sarawak, Miri, Malaysia
Pankaj Kumar
Natural resources and Ecosystem Services, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Hayama, Japan
Francisco Muñoz Arriola
Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States; School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE. United States
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Contributors xi
Preface
Acknowledgement
1. COVID-19: a wake-up call to protect planetary health
6.3 Existing risk reduction frameworks and their gaps/ challenges
6.4 A comparison of responses to COVID-19 by India and Japan
6.5
II
Water resources: Planning, management and governance
7. An overview of Kuwait’s water resources and a proposed plan to prevent the spread of the Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic through Kuwait’s water supply facilities and groundwater system
A. AKBER, A. MUKHOPADHYAY
7.1 Prelude
7.2 Introduction
7.3 Sources of water
7.4 Current status of water availability and consumption
7.5 Possible spread of the Novel Corona Virus through water facilities
7.6 Monitoring of water quality and collection of water samples
7.7 Preservation, analysis, and treatment of water samples
7.8 Concluding remarks
8. Survival of SARS-COV-2 in untreated and treated wastewater—a review
20. Covid-19 Pandemic-changes in the context of global environment and lessons learned
NEHA JAISWAL, S. JAYAKUMAR
20.1 Introduction 207
20.2 The pros and cons of Covid-19 worldwide 209
20.3 Lessons learned from the current crisis 217
20.4 Conclusion
IV
Marine and lacustrine environment
21. Coral reefs: globally predicted climate change impact mitigation, mediated by the marine flora and their ecosystem connectivity, with a case study from Neil Island (the Andamans)
21.2 Mangroves: A refuge for coral reefs in times of climate change 226
21.3 Seagrasses in enhancing reef resilience potential 228
21.4 Reefs–seaweeds interactions in the troubled ocean 229
21.5 Ecosystem connectivity between mangroves, seagrasses and coral reefs 230
21.6 Coastal and marine faunal resources of the Neil Island (the Andamans) - A case study 231
21.7 Fishes 236
21.8 Conclusions 236
Acknowledgement 237
References 237
22. Temporal variability (1966–2020) of the fish assemblage and hydrometeorology of the Tampamachoco Lagoon, Veracruz, Mexico: Pre-and during Covid-19 scenario
23. Socio-economic and environmental impacts of COVID-19 pandemic: Building resilience of the seven lakes of San Pablo city, Philippines
DAMASA B. MAGCALE-MACANDOG, CANESIO D. PREDO, JOSEPH G. CAMPANG, JOHN VICENT R. PLETO, MA. GRECHELLE LYN D. PEREZ, NETHANEL JIREH A. LARIDA, FATIMA A. NATUEL, SARENA GRACE L. QUIÑONES, YVES CHRISTIAN L. CABILLON
23.1 Introduction
23.2 COVID-19 cases in the Philippines
23.3 COVID-19 cases in San Pablo city
23.4 Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the environment
23.5 Effects of the pandemic on society and economy
23.6 Resilience
23.7 Summary and lessons learned
Sustainable development goals and environmental justice
24. Impacts and implications of the COVID-19 crisis and its recovery for achieving sustainable development goals in Asia: A review from an SDG interlinkage perspective
XIN ZHOU, MUSTAFA MOINUDDIN
24.1 Introduction
24.2 Methodology of the SDG interlinkage analysis
24.3 Impacts of COVID-19 on SDGs
24.4 Implications of COVID-19 measures for achieving the SDGs: A review from an SDG interlinkage perspective
24.5 Discussion
24.6 Conclusion
25. The COVID-19 impacts on India’s low carbon infrastructure
NANDAKUMAR JANARDHANAN, RITIKA MANDHYAN, ATUL RAWAT, ERI IKEDA
25.1 Introduction
25.2 Impact on renewable energy infrastructure
25.3 Challenges to the deveopment of low carbon infrastructure and smart cities 291
25.4 Responses towards the impact on low carbon infrastructure: policy analysis 293
25.5 Conclusion 295 References 295
26. Green spaces resume their importance in cities after the COVID-19 pandemic: A case of study from Mexico City
MARÍA CONCEPCIÓN MARTÍNEZ RODRÍGUEZ, ANA LAURA CERVANTES NÁJERA, MARTÍN VERA MARTÍNEZ
26.1 Introduction 299
26.2 Cities as epicentres for the spread of the coronavirus 301
26.3 Agenda 2030 and the sustainable development goals 303
26.4 Mexico City: A case study 304
26.5 Reflections 307
26.6 Conclusions 308
Acknowledgement 308 References 308
27. Climate change, adaptation and gender concerns: Approaches and learnings from global and Indian experiences
VIJETA RATTANI, SOMYA BHATT, DEEPAK SINGH
27.1 Introduction 311
27.2 Gender differentiated impacts of climate change 312
27.3 The state of gender representation in global climate agenda 313
27.4 The global gender agenda 314
27.5 Adding a gender perspective to climate actions 315
27.6 Recognition of gender considerations in climate actions in India 316
27.7 Approaches and learnings from India 317
27.8 Results/outcomes 319
27.9 Key learnings and conclusion 320 References 321
28. Urban housing in the metropolitan area of the Mexico City, in the context of climate change and the COVID 19 pandemic
JUAN MAYORGA, JOSÉ SOTO
28.1 Introduction 323
28.2 Climate change in the world, origins of its study 323
28.3 Climate change in Mexico in the 21st century 324
28.4 Mexico’s urban areas in the 21st Century 325
28.5 COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico and the world 325
28.6 The study of urban housing in Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic 326
28.7 Characterization of the surveyed subjects living in the urban dwellings studied 327
28.8 Characteristics of urban dwellings registered in the survey 327
28.9 Problems in the urban areas of the metropolitan area of Mexico City during and post COVID-19 pandemic 328
28.10 Recommendations for the sustainable and resilient design of the urban spaces studied 328
28.11 Housing problems in urban areas of the metropolitan area of Mexico City studied 329
28.12 Recommendations for urban dwellings in the metropolitan area of Mexico City studied 331
28.13 Conclusions 331
References 332
29. COVID-19 as an opportunity to make fieldbased earth sciences and other similar courses easily accessible and affordable
AAISYAH
D., SAHARI S., SHAH A.A., QADIR A., PRASANNA M.V., SHALABY R.
29.1 Introduction
29.2 Background
29.3
29.4
30. Livelihood and health vulnerabilities of forest resource-dependent communities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in southwestern regions of Bangladesh
TAPOSHI RABYA LIMA, MAHFUZA ZAMAN ELA, LUBABA KHAN, TAUFIQ-E-AHMED SHOVO, MD. TANVIR HOSSAIN, NUSRAT JAHAN, KHANDKAR-SIDDIKUR RAHMAN, MD. NASIF AHSAN, MD. NAZRUL ISLAM
30.1 Introduction
30.2 COVID-19 pandemic situation and its impacts on forest resource-dependent communities
30.3 The Sundarbans forest of Bangladesh and the resource-dependent communities
30.4 Materials and methods
30.5 Impact assessment of COVID-19 on the Sundarbans forest-dependent communities
30.6 Coping strategies of the Sundarbans forest-dependent communities in the pandemic situation 351
30.7 Conclusion and recommendations 352
30.8 Appendix 353 References 354
31. Sustainable utilization of natural resources for socio-environmental resilience and transformation in the mountains of Nepal
ARJUN GAUTAM, RAVI BHANDARI, BINAYA KUMAR MISHRA, BASANTA BARAL
31.1 Natural resources and environment: background 357
31.2 Local and indigenous practices 358
31.3 Policies, programs, and institutions 360
31.4 COVID-19 and changing scenario on mountain economy 362
31.5 Resilience and transformation through sustainable utilization 364
31.6 Summary 369 References 370
32. How resilient are mountain livelihoods against extreme events? Learnings from Central Mexico in a COVID-19 world
BARBARA KOVÁCS, JUAN CARLOS CAMPOS BENHUMEA
32.1 Introduction 373
32.2 Methods and material 374
32.3 Results and discussion
32.4 Conclusions
32.5
32.6
33. Significance of conventional Indian food acting as immune boosters to overcome COVID-19
MADHAVI LATHA KONE, DHANU RADHA SAMAYAMANTHULA
33.1 Introduction
33.2 Methodology
33.3 Results and discussion
34. COVID-19 pandemic impact on food security and food system of India: Lessons for future
USHA MINA, RAM KUMAR
34.1 Introduction
34.2 COVID pandemic: Food security and food system of India
34.3 COVID pandemic impact on food system productive attribute of India
34.4 COVID pandemic and food security in India
34.5 COVID pandemic and future lessons
Contributors
A.A. Sam Department of Social Studies, Faculty of Arts, National University of Samoa, Lepapaigalagala, Toomatagi, Samoa
A.A. Shah Department of Geosciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei
AL. Ramanathan School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India
A. Abeynayaka Graduate School of Environment and Information Studies, Tokyo City University, Yokohama 158-0087, Japan; Research and Development Division, Pirika Inc./Pirika Association, Ebisu, Shibuya City, Tokyo 150-0013, Japan
A. Akber Water Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
A. Mukhopadhyay Water Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
A. Qadir Independent Researcher
Ajit Kumar Vidyarthi Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi, India
Alejandra Reyes-Márquez Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Prol. del Carpio y Plan de Ayala s/n Col. Santo Tomás, CDMX, México
Alok Kumar Thakur Discipline of Earth Science, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382 355, India
Alok Sagar Gautam Department of Physics, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India
Ana Laura Cervantes Nájera Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo (CIIEMAD) from Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), 30 deJunio de 1520, La Laguna Ticomán, Gustavo A. Madero, Mexico City
Anisha Shajan Biotechnology Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
Arindam Malakar Water Sciences Lab, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Arjun Gautam School of Engineering, Pokhara University, Nepal
Arpah bt. Abu Bakar Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, Malaysia
Arthur James Rathinam Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, India
Ash Pachauri POP (Protect Our Planet) Movement, 800 Third Avenue, Suite 2800, New York, NY 10022, USA
Asmita Deep Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Dehradun, India; Faculty of Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
Atul Rawat University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Derhadun, India
Balaji Vedharajan OMCAR Palk Bay Centre, East Coast Road, Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu, India
Banajarani Panda Water Sciences Lab, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Barbara Kovács Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo (CIIEMAD), Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), Calle 30 de Junio de 1520 s/n, Barrio La Laguna Ticomán, Del. Gustavo A. Madero, C.P., Ciudad de México (CDMX), Mexico
Basanta Baral DV Excellus Pvt. Ltd., Nepal
Binaya Kumar Mishra School of Engineering, Pokhara University, Nepal
Canesio D. Predo Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines
Chandani Appadoo Department of Biosciences and Ocean Studies, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius
D.T. Hung Laboratory Center, Hanoi University of Public Health, 1A Duc Thang Road, Duc Thang Ward, North Tu Liem District, Hanoi, Viet Nam
D. Aaisyah Department of Geosciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei
Damasa B. Magcale-Macandog Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines
Deepak Khare Department of Water Resources Development and Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India
Deepak Singh Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR, China
Dhanu Radha Samayamanthula Water Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Shuwaikh, Kuwait
Drishya Pathak POP (Protect Our Planet) Movement, 800 Third Avenue, Suite 2800, New York, NY 10022, USA
E. Haramoto Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
Eri Ikeda Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India
Eugenia López-López Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Prol. del Carpio y Plan de Ayala s/n Col. Santo Tomás, CDMX, México
Fadila Al-Salameen Biotechnology Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
Farhana Zakir Food and Nutrition Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
Fatima A. Natuel School of Environmental Science and Management, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines
Francisco Muñoz Arriola Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States; School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE. United States
G. Gnanachandrasamy School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat -Sen University, Guangzhou, P.R. China; Center for Earth, Environment and Resources, Sun Yat -Sen University, Guangzhou, P.R. China
Goutham Bharathi Andaman & Nicobar Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India
Guadalupe M. Austria-Ortíz Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Prol. del Carpio y Plan de Ayala s/n Col. Santo Tomás, CDMX, México
Harish Chandra Nainwal Department of Geology, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India
Henciya Santhaseelan Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, India
Jagriti Jain Department of Water Resources Development and Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India
John Vicent R. Pleto Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines
Joseph G. Campang Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines
José Soto ESIA Tecamachalco Campus, Instituto Politécnico Nacional (National Polytechnic Institute), Fuente de los Leones avenue 28, Lomas de Tecamachalco, Estado de México, México
Juana López-Martínez Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, Km. 1 Carretera a San Juan de La Costa “EL COMITAN” La Paz, BCS, México
Juan Carlos Campos Benhumea Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo (CIIEMAD), Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), Calle 30 de Junio de 1520 s/n, Barrio La Laguna Ticomán, Del. Gustavo A. Madero, C.P., Ciudad de México (CDMX), Mexico
Juan Mayorga ESIA Tecamachalco Campus, Instituto Politécnico Nacional (National Polytechnic Institute), Fuente de los
Leones avenue 28, Lomas de Tecamachalco, Estado de México, México
K. Shankar Department of Applied Geology, School of Applied Natural Science, Adama Science and Technology University, Adama, Ethiopia
K. Sirikanchana Research Laboratory of Biotechnology, Chulabhorn Research Institute, 54 Kampangpetch 6 Road Laksi, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
Karan Singh Department of Physics, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India
M.V. Prasanna Department of Applied Geology, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT 250, Sarawak, Miri, Malaysia
M. Kitajima Division of Environmental Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8 Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
M. Mahalakshmi School of Civil Engineering, SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur, India
M. Navia Thunderstruck Resources Limited, Nadi Back Road, Nadi, Fiji
M. Tsudaka Strategic Management Office, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, 2108-11 Kamiyamaguchi, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0115, Japan
Ma. Grechelle Lyn D. Perez School of Environmental Science and Management, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines
Madhavi Latha Kone Department of Gynecology, Kalyan Hospital,Payakoropeta, Andhra Pradesh, India
Mahfuza Zaman Ela Sociology Discipline, Social Science School, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh
Manish Kumar Discipline of Earth Science, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382 355, India
Mariko Yokoo Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Hayama, Japan
Martín Vera Martínez Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. Tijuana, Universidad 14418, Parque Internacional Industrial Tijuana, Baja California, Tijuana, Mexico
María Concepción Martínez Rodríguez Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo (CIIEMAD) from Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), 30 deJunio de 1520, La Laguna Ticomán, Gustavo A. Madero, Mexico City
Md. Nasif Ahsan Economics Discipline, Social Science School, Khulna University 9208, Bangladesh
Montaha Behbehani Environment Pollution and Climate Change Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
Mukta Akter Economics Discipline, Social Science School, Khulna University 9208, Bangladesh
Mustafa Moinuddin Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), 2108-11Kamiyamaguchi, Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan
Muthukumar Krishnan Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli 620015, India
N.Q. Dinh Vietnam Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources (VIGMR), 67 Chien-Thang-Str, Thanh Xuan, 100000 Hanoi, Viet Nam
N.T.T. Huong Faculty of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Phenikaa University, Hanoi 100000, Viet Nam; Phenikaa Research and Technology Institute (PRATI), A&A Green Phoenix Group, 167 Hoang Ngan, Hanoi 10000, Viet Nam
N. Devaraj Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamilnadu, India
Nandakumar Janardhanan Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan
Nazima Habibi Biotechnology Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
Neha Jaiswal Dept. of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry
Nethanel Jireh A. Larida Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines
Norma Patricia Muñoz Sevilla Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CIIEMAD, POP Movement, Calle 30 de Junio de 1520 s/n, Colonia Barrio de la Laguna, Ticomán, CDMX 07340, Mexico City, Mexico
P. Ragavan Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India
Pankaj Kumar Natural resources and Ecosystem Services, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Hayama, Japan
Pham Ngoc Bao Natural Resources and Ecosystem Services, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Kanagawa, Japan
Philo Magdalene A POP (Protect Our Planet) Movement, 800 Third Avenue, Suite 2800, New York, NY 10022, USA
Prabhat Ranjan Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi, India
Prasun Kumar Gupta Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Dehradun, India
Prosun Bhattacharya Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 10B, Stockholm SE-10044, Sweden
Punarbasu Chaudhuri Department of Environmental Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India
R.S. Negi Department of Rural Technology, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India
R. Shalaby Department of Geosciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei
R. Thilagavathi Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamilnadu, India
Rajeev Issar UNDP, Bangkok, Thailand
Ram Kumar Directorate of Agriculture, New Secretariat, Bihar, India
Ravi Bhandari Nepal Innovation Technology & Entrepreneurship Center, Pokhara University, Nepal
Ritika Mandhyan Department of Urban Engineering, University of Tokyo, Japan
Rozina Akter Economics Discipline, Social Science School, Khulna University 9208, Bangladesh
Sabarathinam Chidambaram Water Research Centre, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat, Kuwait
S. Jayakumar Dept. of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry
S. Sahari Department of Geosciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei
Saif Uddin Environment Pollution and Climate Change Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
Sanjeev Kumar Department of Physics, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India
Santhosh Gokul Murugaiah Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, India
Sarena Grace L. Quiñones Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines
Sergio Aguíñiga-Garcíab Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Avenida Politécnico Nacional s/n Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, Apartado Postal 592, La Paz, BCS, México
Shailly Kedia The Energy & Resources Institute, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Shamik Chakraborty Hosei University Tokyo, Japan
Shresth Tayal The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi, India
Sivakumar Kannan CAS in Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Sciences, Annamalai University, TN, India
Sivaperuman Chandrakasan Andaman & Nicobar Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India
Sivapuram V.R.K. Prabhakar Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Hayama, Japan
Somya Bhatt Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resource Management Programme, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, New Delhi, India
Contributors
Subarna Bhattacharyya School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Jadavpur, India
Sudesh Yadav School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India
Suniti Parashar Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi, India
Sushil Kumar School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India
Swati Singh TERI School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi, India
T. Setiadi Centre for Environmental Studies (PSLH), Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Sangkuriang 42 A, Bandung 40135, Indonesia
T. Takeda Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
Taposhi Rabya Lima Sociology Discipline, Social Science School, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh
Taufiq-E-Ahmed Shovo Sociology Discipline, Social Science School, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh; School of Humanities and Social Science, Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
Usha Mina School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Vengateshwaran Thasu Dinakaran Department of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, India
Vijeta Rattani Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resource Management Programme, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, New Delhi, India
Vu Duc Canh Department of Urban Engineering, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Xin Zhou Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), 2108-11Kamiyamaguchi, Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan
Yves Christian L. Cabillon Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines
Preface
The whole world has been on intermittent lockdowns due to the present COVID-19 pandemic. The industrial deacceleration caused by the pandemic has affected everyone without distinction of wealth, religion, or nationality. Also, the pandemic has evidenced how socio-environmental processes have been altered or accentuated, relieving the environment momentarily from an almost chronic deterioration. Likewise, the lockdown has affected the aquatic systems where direct or indirect improvements in ecosystem services have been observed. In the atmosphere, the presence and dynamics of pollutants worldwide provide some insights into the responsibility of the acceleration of the human enterprise. The induced de-acceleration, evidenced in reduced human movement, industrial closure, and tourists’ reduction, also affected water quality, fish populations in lacustrine, marine, and lagoon environments. This pandemic has opened up new challenges focusing on sustainable development goals in the global economy and the way forward to achieve them on time. The book presents five different themes, with thirtyfour chapters capturing the collective thinking on how our environment change during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The studies encompass short-term variations of specific climatic factors that indicate a shred of unclear evidence on climate change mitigation. Yet, the collective evidence represents the basis for assessing how a sudden reduction in our industrialization can benefit the environment.
As humankind suffers the most significant threat since World War II, the COVID-19 has made us aware of our individual and global interactions with the environment. We have seen how socially and economically vulnerable we are to COVID-19 by confining individuals and communities to tackle the pandemic and using social networks and media to survive social distancing and quarantine. We have seen how persistent inequality makes chronically disadvantaged communities more vulnerable to a virus that has attacked our bodies’ and societal functionalities. Across the globe and within small communities, the pandemic has evidenced educational, technological, and social divides leading to uneven access to safe jobs, affordable health care, and educational services. The present book, “Environmental Resilience And Transformation in Times of COVID-19,” integrates a collective of analyses and assessments on how COVID-19
lockdowns have influenced the socioenvironmental processes amid climate change. Sevilla et al., provide a global perspective of how our natural and built systems have been altered with polarized ramifications. For example, the short-term reclaims of flora and fauna for spaces and the estimated long-term effect of plastic disposal due to the increase in packaging and PPE use, both activated by our incipient understanding and handling of the pandemic. Also, both situations evidence how social and environmental drivers of our Earth-living support system are interwoven. Chakraborty et al., propose that the expansion of zoonotic diseases and weakened resilience resides in increasing exposure to the natural environment through our more invasive management of natural ecosystems. Chaudhuri and Bhattacharyya illustrate how this coupling increases the chances of the spreading of new viruses to humans, integrating socioenvironmental elements of human health attributions to environmental shifts. As the pandemic evolves, the pandemic evidences novel or unexpected expressions of interdependence between the human-environment. Deep and Gupta use night-time lights to identify the relationship between energy consumption and human activity in Delhi, India. Typical regimes shifted during the lockdown to decreased energy consumption and an increase in night-time lights due to workers’ temporal return to their hometowns. Such socioenvironmental expressions in urban centers are also expressed in human behavior, like those identified by Ahsan et al. They highlighted how human stress and anxiety in Bangladesh’s coastal urban areas emerge. The symptoms of stress and anxiety in populations of developing countries triggered by agitation, scarcity, trauma, infodemic, age, literacy level, and living condition can indicate a deterioration of socioenvironmental systems’ resilience abilities. Changes in the functionalities within a community and across boundaries can lead to increased community risks because of the impacts of health emergencies or natural disasters as mentioned by Prabhakar et al.
Environmental (water and air) quality integrated the social and environmental responses to the COVID-19 lockdowns.
To start, water quality in the book provides a glance of methodologies to track COVID-19 and evaluate environmental states during the lockdown phases. The COVID-19 pandemic forced several nations to impose
restrictions on all activities including industrial and vehicular movements. It is expected to reduce the rate of pollutants entering the ecosystem in many places. Since water pollution remained a major concern over a few decades before COVID, these studies analyze the impact of lockdown on water quality to get an insight into the short-term environmental changes. Akbar et al highlight the spread of COVID through water facilities and the GW system in Kuwait. It addresses sample collection, preservation, and analysis and identifies the migration pathways for possible treatment to remove viruses in contaminated mediums. The SARS-CoV-2 survival in treated and untreated water generated by infected humans. Panda et al, Manish et al, Bao and Canh, and Takeda et al, recommends adopting 100% removal treatment to stop its spread in high population density areas to minimize the transmission of the lethal virus. The fate of water and wastewater contamination of COVID RNA in various countries was brought forward here. It stresses the framework for epidemiology management and proper surveillance of wastewater to avoid fecal/ urinal shedding of infected individuals. Effective monitoring in infected communities at an early-stage through wastewater-based epidemiology, together with clinical diagnostic testing or clinical surveillance is poor, effective interventions, and preparedness actions can be taken as early as possible to restrict the movements of the infected population, as well as to minimize the pathogen spread and threat to public health. To get an insight into the existing challenges and bottlenecks, a comparative study between eight countries across the Asia-Pacific was carried out in this chapter. A better understanding of common issues, as well as issues specific to each country, makes it is possible to build a robust multistakeholder system to monitor SARS-CoV-2 as well as future pathogens in wastewater as an effective disease surveillance system for COVID-19 and unknown epidemics (disease X) in the community level. Ranjan listed first-hand information on the COVID lockdown period from the most densely populated river in the world: Ganga. Mainstream recorded much-improved water quality levels with respect to DO and BOD at most locations during the lockdown as a cumulative effect of rains and decreased industrial & commercial activities. Tayal and Singh, discussed the various aspects of the water-energyfood (WEF) nexus in two cities in India under pre- and post-COVID scenario for implementing integrated measures to ensure optimization of WEF for sustainable environmental benefits. James et al, brought out the impact of waste-water input on coastal water quality due to COVID lockdown, which was found to have a considerable benefit on the coastal ecosystem in the Gulf of Manner with a reduced concentration in heavy metals,
microplastics, NO3, and Chl-a indicating phytoplankton biomass enhancement.
As the world came to a standstill there were multiple changes in the atmospheric environment with reductions in major air pollutants, which were used in in many places in multiple industrial and transportation sectors. Air pollution reductions, ozone increases, and manifold changes in the atmospheric conditions of major cities around the world are some of the important variations around the globe. All these changes have not only shown or modified due to the pandemia but the large scale variations have also heavily affected the environment. Kumar and Yadav, provided an input on the changes in air quality index and the pollutants in the ambient atmosphere in New Delhi, India. The four phase lockdown in New Delhi (from 25th March to 31st May, 2020) indicates reduction of CO, NOx, SO2, Pb, O3, and PM2.5 was not on the same level to all pollutants. Aerosol parameters were measured during the lockdown period in Garhwal University of Srinagar, India. The higher values of aerosols observed during the lockdown period is mainly due to the transportation of aerosols and may be due to the precipitation/ washout of aerosols (Gautam et al). Habibi et al, demonstrated a safe way to collect airborne samples of COVID-19 virus through high precaution. The results suggest that samples collected with TRIzol gave 90%-100% of the microbial load, which is highly safe, meeting all the requirements of the virology laboratory. Shankar et al, reported the importance of studying the meteorological parameters and the COVID19 spread in Russia. Overall results collected from 31st January to 31st August, 2020 indicate positive relations with COVID cases and temperature rise and vice versa. Moreover, identifying these changes will help the public and policy makers in the near future. A short-term resilience study was done in Mumbai, India during the lockdown period to understand the changes in air quality and its indices. The results indicate urban socioenvironmental systems with particular indices were identified for environmental and social aspects which act as a social drive of resilience (Jain et al). A global study was done on the environmental changes and the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter focuses on the past climatic issues across the globe and how the environment is capable of adapting and its transformation during this period, where various lessons are taught to protect our environment from the pandemic (Jaiswal and Jeyakumar).
The aquatic environment, characterized in the collective presented in this book, integrates three studies in a land-to-ocean assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Theme 4 focuses on the impact of the pandemic on the marine, lagoonal, and lacustrine environment. The Marine environment has served as the key for the survival of corals, dependent biota, and plays a
significant role in the food chain. The lagoonal environment has been a sink for many contaminants and attempts to filter the anthropogenic stress reaching the marine ecosystem. The freshwater ecosystem in the recent days are affected by tourism, inland sewage, industrial waste, etc., affecting the biota. The observations made by Sivakumar et al have also revealed that the marine flora and the reef ecosystem had a significant impact during this pandemic period. The chapter also highlights that the mangrove habitats can act as alternate refuges for corals during climate threats, particularly increasing seawater temperature, high levels of solar radiation, and ocean acidification. Guadalupe et al, have also recorded that the COVID-19 has registered an incipient evidence of trophic recovery in the Tampamachoco lagoonal environment. It is emphasized that the interconnectivity of the marine ecosystems should be considered for deriving the management policies to protect the ecological health of these coastal habitats. The fresh water bodies, such as lakes and lagoons, have also suffered socioeconomic and environmental impacts. Damasa et al has identified the improvement in water quality and increase in fish population after the lockdown period. This study has provided a sign of positive development in the environmental condition due to the Bayanihan Acts of Philippine government to fight COVID-19. The change observed was mainly due to reduction in the tourist and anthropogenic activities. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and environmental justice in the book highlights the slow progress for achieving different global goals especially those in the world’s developing economies and what are the additional challenges and opportunities imposed by COVID-19 pandemic to achieve them in a timely manner. Finally, it discusses the way forward for recovery, the need to redesign our system-oriented policies to be more inclusive with constricted interventions in order to achieve mutually agreed global goals like Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Aichi Target, Sendai Framework for Disaster Management, etc., a necessary ingredient for achieving sustainable development, economic growth, and human well-being in timely manner. The area of thrust of all eleven chapters within this theme ranges from sectors like energy, natural resources, and food security. They all echoed for the need to codesign and coimplement the environmental adaptation and mitigation strategies to preserve our natural resources, boost the immune system and make our system more
robust in nature to absorb sudden additional shocks likes COVID-19 pandemics along with rapid global changes and uncertain extreme weather conditions. Zhou and Moinuddin, highlighted that due to the intrinsic interactions among the SDGs, an interlinkage perspective is very important to grasp a wider picture of COVID-19 impact and inform about the synergies and trade-offs of the COVID-19 measures in order to achieve SDGs by year 2030. They have proposed SDG interlinkage analysis for identifying the impacts of COVID-19 and its recovery and then applied for an empirical study for two Asian countries, Bangladesh and the Republic of Korea. Janardhanan et al, discuss creating or promoting decarbonized and decentralized society with both economic and social benefits for India’s low carbon infrastructure. Rodriguez et al, looks into lessons learned through these cascade effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and promotes greener economies for enhancing system resilience and adaptive capacity. Rattani et al, presents how COVID-19 brought additional and disproportional challenges for women and girls, the weaker section of society in different parts of India. It also presents different approaches for analyzing gender specific differentiated risk assessment and finally highlights the importance of state of art of gender consideration in national policies as a sustainable solution. Cervantes and Ruíz, and Shah, have presented recommendations that can serve in the development of methods for the diagnosis of existing urban houses and newly created dwelling and thereby make them sustainable and resilient. Three different chapters (Hossain et al, Bhandari et al, and Kovacs and Benhumea) highlight unseen problems and challenges COVID-19 brought to the people or communities dependent on natural resources, such as mountains and forests for their livelihood. They also discussed how community resilience in these vulnerable areas can be built through the reduction of consumption, diversification of income sources, and claiming support from the government. Two chapters (Samayamanthula and Latha, Mina and Kumar) have discussed various challenges different countries are facing to achieve food security as a most pressing issue in the time of this uncertain pandemic. They highlighted the importance of immunity and how to build up an immune system to fight against any viral infections especially COVID-19 by adopting conventional foods habits. It also stressed the resilient food system-based policy interventions needs to be implemented by policy makers.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all the contributing authors who, during the pandemic, provided scientific narratives on diverse themesand critical findings and shared their knowledge on our environment.
We appreciate the two external reviewers for each chapter around the globe who contributed improving the quality of the book. We would like to thank the special work of the Elsevier publishing teams and especially Editorial Project Leader Ms. Leticia Lima.
We sincerely thank all six institutions from different countries: 1) School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India; 2) Water Research
Centre, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait; 3) Center for Interdisciplinary Studies on Environment and Development (Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo), National Polytechnic Institute (Instituto Politécnico Nacional), Mexico City, Mexico; 4) Faculty of Engineering and Science, Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University Malaysia, Malaysia; 5) Natural Resources and Ecosystem Services, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan; and 6) Department of Biological Systems Engineering, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA.
PART I
Environmental modifications, degradation and human health risks
1 COVID-19: a wake-up call to protect planetary health 3
2 Zoonotic disease in the face of rapidly changing human-nature interactions in the Anthropocene 17
3 Impact of Covid-19 lockdown on the socioenvironmental scenario of Indian Sundarban 25
4 Changes in nighttime Lights during COVID-19 lockdown over Delhi, India 37
5 Socio-environmental factors affecting mental health of people during COVID-19 in coastal urban areas of Bangladesh 49
6 Mitigating transboundary risks by integrating risk reduction frameworks of health and DRR: A perspective from COVID-19 pandemic 63
1
COVID-19: a wake-up call to protect planetary health
aPOP (Protect Our Planet) Movement, 800 Third Avenue, Suite 2800, New York, NY 10022, USA
bInstituto Politécnico Nacional, CIIEMAD, POP Movement, Calle 30 de Junio de 1520 s/n,
Colonia Barrio de la Laguna, Ticomán, CDMX 07340, Mexico City, Mexico
cThe Energy & Resources Institute, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
1.1 Emerging infectious disease, COVID-19, and planetary health
While human health research scarcely considers the surrounding natural ecosystems, a relatively new discipline, planetary health, examines the health of human civilization along with the state of the natural systems on which it depends (Vidal, 2020a; Horton et al., 2014). The field of planetary health is gaining attention, as the connections between human well-being and ecosystem health become increasingly evident. Infectious outbreaks, like the novel coronavirus, threaten to become more common as human populations destroy habitats, forcing wildlife into closer proximity to humans (Johnson, 2020). The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that threequarters of new or emerging diseases that infect humans originate in animals, with research suggesting that outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Ebola, SARS, MERS, bird flu, and now Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are on the rise (Vidal, 2020b; Smith et al., 2014). As humans continue to encroach on animal habitat and destroy fragile ecosystems, they come into ever greater contact with animals. In addition, illegal wildlife trade and illegal live animal markets are frequent causes of such diseases. COVID-19 is the latest infectious disease of likely zoonotic origin or more simply put to have been caused due to increased interaction between humans and wildlife as a result of anthropogenic activities in terms of environmental degradation and poor planetary health (Murdoch and French, 2020). How did the 2019-nCoV arrive in Wuhan, China is still undetermined, but evidence shows 66% of the 41 initially infected patients had direct exposure to Huanan live animal market (Huang et al., 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to forefront the urgent need to consider zoonotic and agricultural bridging of novel pathogens along with attention to anthropogenic origins such diseases and human appetite for meat (Kock et al., 2020).
COVID-19 is a contagious respiratory and vascular disease and is currently an ongoing pandemic which has already infected about 63 million people world-wide and resulted in 1.5 million deaths as of late November 2020 (WHO, 2020). “Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death,” said the Director-General of the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic (WHO, 2020b). His key statements to the world included: “prepare and be ready; detect, protect and treat; reduce transmission; and innovate and learn.” The unprecedented repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic have shown the implications of infectious diseases on not only human health and well-being but also on economies and employment even in remote locations (Biswas, 2020; Watts, 2020). World Economic Outlook by the International Monetary Fund projects a deep recession in 2020 and global growth is projected to be −4.4% (IMF, 2020). The International Labor Organization estimates that global labor income has declined by 10.7%, or USD 3.5 trillion, in the first three-quarters of 2020, compared with the same period in 2019 (ILO, 2020).
1. COVID-19: a wake-up call to protect
Studies have shown that the extent to which the COVID-19 virus induces respiratory stress in infected individuals may also be influenced by the extent to which an individual’s respiratory system is already compromised, including due to air pollution. The result of one study attributes air pollution to be an important cofactor leading to increasing mortality risk from COVID-19 (Pozzer et al., 2020). Another study, in China, shows that high levels of particulate matter pollution may increase the susceptibility of the population to respiratory complications of the disease (Chen et al., 2020). A case study from the United States indicates that COVID-19 associated death rates are raised by about 15% in areas where even a small increase in fine-particle pollution level is observed than in the pre-COVID-19 period (Wu et al., 2020). Adsorption of the COVID-19 virus on airborne dust and particulate matter from air pollution could also contribute to long-range transport of the virus (Comunian et al., 2020). Infected stools in wastewater can generate further transmission routes through the generation of virus-laden aerosols during wastewater flushing. Studies have shown that SARS-CoV can survive in stool samples for 4 days (Lai et al., 2005). A study found that in 2003 contaminated faulty sewage system in a high-rise housing estate in Hong Kong was linked to the SARS outbreak of a large number of residents living in the surrounding buildings (Hung, 2003). Another study also found the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in fecal matter and wastewater and raised the possibility of fecal–oral transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (Heller et al., 2020). Yet another study examined linkages with climatic variables and found a negative association between temperature and COVID-19 infections and a positive association between precipitation and COVID-19 infections (Sobral et al., 2020). Increasingly, there is an interest in understanding the role of climate change, habitat destruction, and urban pollution and their play in the appearance and spread of COVID-19.
The objective of this chapter is to examine the trends set in motion by COVID-19 and its implications for planetary health. These will be examined in the context of the long-term environmental and humanitarian repercussions of the pandemic.
1.2 Lockdown as a temporary respite for the environment
A growing body of literature examines the impact of COVID-19 on the environment ( Prata et al., 2020 ; Patrício Silva et al., 2021 ; Yunus et al., 2020 ; Jribi et al., 2020 ; Dutheil et al., 2020 ). As countries locked down and social distancing was enforced in March 2020, many environmental parameters showed an improvement as pollution levels decreased, energy use dramatically reduced, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions fell ( Watts, 2020 ). China, the largest global emitter, witnessed a drop in carbon emissions by 25% due to the lockdown; pollution in New York reduced by close to 50% because of measures to contain the spread of the virus; a nationwide lockdown in India a country with the highest pollution levels in the world resulted in a drop of PM 2.5 (fine particulate pollutant) by 30% in some cities in just a few days ( Mahato et al., 2020 ). Studies have also documented positive environmental effects such as reduction of air pollution (especially in terms of PM 2.5 and NO 2) ( Mahato et al., 2020 ; Sharma, 2020 ), reduction in noise ( Zambrano-Monserrate et al., 2020 ), and clean beaches ( Zambrano-Monserrate et al., 2020 ). On the other hand, the negative impacts of COVID-19 have been the increase in volume of infectious waste during the pandemic outbreak due to the lack of waste management of personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks and gloves ( Sangkham, 2020 ). Emissions of GHG have decreased as a result of the pandemic. But this reduction has also only been short-lived with little impact on the total concentrations of GHGs that have accumulated in the atmosphere for decades ( Zambrano-Monserrate et al., 2020 ).
The recorded decrease in pollution due to national lockdowns seemed like good news for the environment but it does not by any means imply that climate change is slowing down. Tentative estimates, which project that COVID-19 could trigger the largest ever annual fall in carbon emissions, point to the fact that this fall would not come close to bringing the 1.5°C global temperature limit within reach ( CB Analysis, 2020 ). Global carbon emissions would need to fall by more than 6% every year this decade, which is the equivalent of more than 2200 MtCO 2 (metric tons of carbon dioxide) annually, to limit temperature increase to less than 1.5°C above preindustrial levels. Concentrations of carbon dioxide, the gas that is primarily responsible for trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, are up from 413 parts per million this time last year to 416 parts per million now ( NOAA, 2020a ). As Bill Gates rightly noted in early August 2020 “What’s remarkable is not how much emissions will go down because of the pandemic, but how little. In addition, these reductions are being achieved at, literally, the greatest possible cost” ( Gates, 2020 ). A staggering cost is the impact of the pandemic on the surge of plastic pollution, which threatens to choke the planet.
1.3 Pandemic reclaiming the plastic usage: demand, production, and usage
Studies estimate that, due to COVID-19, the demand on plastics is expected to increase by 40% for packaging and 17% for medical use and other applications (Prata et al., 2020). Two years ago, the United Nations declared plastic pollution as a global crisis and the year 2020 was meant to mark an ultimate shift away from plastic as countries and cities introduced new bans while scientists and activists argued for positive environmental changes. The coronavirus outbreak and increasing numbers of infections, however, have sidetracked this narrative exerting tremendous pressure on healthcare systems and revealing that plastic is still the most reliable and affordable solution for personal protection (Konov, 2020). Even before the Coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic, the global demand for PPE kits saw an upsurge, causing a concurrent uptake in demand for single-use plastics. This escalation in plastic usage has resulted in a global PPE shortage, with a UN task force being constituted to coordinate and scale-up its procurement and distribution. The change in the production trend of PPE between December 2019 and July 2020 was significant as WHO called for industries and governments to increase manufacturing by 40% to meet the rising global demand in March (WHO, 2020). To estimate the number of mask for general public requirements for example the Center for Health Security using a calculation forecasted demand, “10% of the US population of 330 million are essentially house-bound and will not need masks. Of the remaining 300 million, the assumption is 75% will adhere to guidance and wear 1 mask per 5 days on average.” Almost 45,000,000 masks/day, 1,372,500,000 per month until the vaccine arrives and this is for the US population only (Box 1.1).
The magnitude of the global waste crisis can be understood from the radical growth in the manufacturing and production of PPE kits which the pandemic has necessitated in the past many months. The global PPE market that was valued at USD 52.7 billion in 2019 is expected to reach USD 92.5 billion by 2025 (VR, 2020) with some of the key global players who include 3M Company, Ansell Limited, Honeywell International Inc., and others. Some of the key players operating in the global PPE market are the M Company, Ansell Limited, Honeywell International Inc., Sioen Industries NV, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, E I DuPont de Nemours and Co., MSA Safety Inc., Lakeland Industries, Alpha Pro Tech, Ltd., Radians Inc., Delta Plus Group, Uvex Safety, Avon Rubber, and Metric AG (Box 1.2).
Countries such as India with less waste management capacities have also been producing PPE kits (UMHI, 2020). For example, developing countries like India struggled in arranging PPE kits in the month of March when the lockdown was announced when India had not begun manufacturing PPE kit, and was dependent on other countries like Singapore, Korea, and China for the PPE kits. For India alone, the requirement changed from approximately 4 lakhs to 10 lakhs and more, and has now achieved an almost unrealistic goal of producing 2.06 lakh PPE kits daily within 2 months after the coronavirus outbreak (Box 1.3). The latest demand estimated by Empowered Group-3 of the Government of India is a total requirement of 2.01 crore till the month of June.
When WHO provided an update regarding the modes of transmission of the virus, including the possibility of aerosol transmission, face masks were recommended as part of the public health response (WHO, 2020). This led to an enormous increase in the demand for face masks from the public and consequently, their rampant disposal. However, with governments recommending that general populations wear nonmedical, homemade cloth masks to ensure availability of PPE for healthcare workers, it has been forecasted that after adjusting for home-bound individuals, surgical masks will be used by 50% of the population and that they will use, on average, 1 mask per day (Toner, 2020). These figures point to the large magnitude of PPE demand and disposal.
According to estimates by WHO, frontline workers, on a monthly basis would need 89 million medical masks, 76 million examination gloves, and 1.6 million goggles (WHO, 2020b; Fig. 1.1).
Furthermore, reliance on plastic and imperishable materials has only steadily increased with products such as disposable wipes, cleaning agents, hand sanitizer, disposable gloves, and masks being sold and thrown away in unprecedented volumes (Patrício Silva et al., 2021). This widespread utilization of PPE kits and other self-care products has accelerated during the pandemic period as has the consequent waste generation and resulting GHG emissions involved. This reveals our disregard and inattention to environmental implications when dealing with emergencies.
Furthermore, medicine and testing kits have also faced a similar upsurge. On the scale of daily tests conducted in the range of 1000 to 10,00,000, it is found that 50% of the countries are conducting more than 10,000 tests per day and countries like the United States, India, United Kingdom, Russia are conducting 0.5 million tests per day (Fig. 1.2). Lack of stringent regulations and failure to systematically dispose testing kits and other equipment will not only increase the risk of infection, but also increase plastic pollution as all of them ultimately find their way into oceans and landfills. These long-lasting ecological hazards call for governments to focus on sustainable pathways while thinking parallel about the COVID-19 crisis (CSSE-JHU, 2020).
