Studies have shown that being exposed to nature relieves stress caused by the Stay-At-Home orders issued since the beginning of the pandemic.
Enrique Liganor/The Skyline View
Even in the pandemic, nature doesn’t have the time to breathe By Monica Grace Dollezon-Yu Staff Contributor
@queenofsubtlety
“I had never seen poison oak as overgrown and huge as it was last month!” Rachel Cunningham, geography instructor at Skyline College and co-advisor of the Alpha Gamma Sigma Honor Society at the College of San Mateo (CSM), expressed what she encountered during her hike at the Monarch Trail last month at Santa Cruz. She witnessed a poison oak, which is a California native plant, that had grown massively. “I don’t know the exact reason why, but I wonder if parks are cutting back on staff going out and maintaining trails due to the pandemic,” Cunningham said. An environmental psychology article from Frontiers studies the nature and individual’s responses to the pandemic. The study suggests that respondents frequently agreed that the coronavirus instigated “the reduction of negative environmental impact”, such as less pollution. However, a perspective from the article counters one side of that theme by arguing, “while we urgently need to reduce our CO2 emissions, a pandemic is not a solution to climate change.” Additionally, an article from Los Angeles Magazine tackles the wildlife occupying spaces in national parks and stated their belief
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in the policy of “limiting the number of people allowed to enter parks” could be effective enough to allow both animal and plant species to thrive in their habitat. “Certainly, there have been positive impacts on natural ecosystems from the periods of time where humans sheltered inside and did not travel as much,” Anne Gearhart, a biology professor from CSM, explained. “However, many of those changes will be temporary unless we consider how to live in conjunction with nature going forward.” Until time could tell when the COVID-19 is completely lifted, to what extent could people enjoy being with nature without disrupting the balance of forces in the natural environment? In tackling this issue, there are more concerning forces in the works related to the emergence of the virus. Human interaction with nature during the pandemic The now common motivation of more individuals becoming more engaged with outdoor activities in nature is related towards psychological behaviors. The shelter-in-place measures evidently caused individuals at home to experience mental distress, depression, anxiety, fatigue, procrastination, etc. An article from the United Nations University (UNU), UN’s research arm, indicates that people being exposed to urban green areas have positive impacts on health and that interaction with nature helps them better recover from stress. Volume 6
