Pandemic proves a curse and a blessing in disguise

Published on : Monday, March 8, 2021

For the planet, the year without tourists was a curse and a blessing as well!
With flights canceled, cruise ships stopped and vacations largely scrapped, carbon emissions went down. Wildlife that usually kept a low profile amid tourist rush in vacation hotspots suddenly came to the fore. A lack of cruise ships in places like Alaska made humpback whales hear each other’s calls without the noise of engines. That’s the good news.

On the flip side, the disappearance of travelers invited a strange havoc, not only on those who make their living from tourism, but on wildlife itself, especially in the developing countries. Many governments pay for conservation and enforcement through fees associated with tourism. With drying up of that revenue, budgets were reduced, resulting in increased poaching and illegal fishing in some areas. There were illicit logging too, presenting a double whammy for the environment. Since trees absorb and store carbon, cutting them down not only harmed wildlife habitats, but contributed to climate change.

To quote Joe Walston, the executive vice president of global conservation at the Wildlife Conservation Society, “We have seen many financial hits to the protection of nature. But even where that hasn’t happened, in a lot of places people haven’t been able to get into the field to do their jobs because of Covid.”

From the rise in rhino poaching in Botswana to the fading of noise pollution in Alaska, the lack of tourism has had a profound effect globally. The question henceforth is which impacts will stay, and which will vanish, in the road to recovery.

While the pandemic’s effect on wildlife has differed widely from continent to continent, and country to country, its effect on air quality was felt largely.
Last year, in the United States, greenhouse gas emissions declined more than 10 percent, with state and local governments imposing lockdowns and people staying home.

The most dramatic results were exhibited from the transportation sector, which witnessed a 14.7 percent decrease. However, there is every expectation that as the pandemic loosens its grip, tourism will recommence with a vengeance.

The pandemic helped drive American emissions below 1990 levels for the first time. Globally, carbon dioxide emissions went down 7 percent, or 2.6 billion metric tons, as per latest data from international climate researchers.

According to climate activist Bill McKibben, who’s one of the first to raise an alarm about global warming in his 1989 book, “The End of Nature,” the pandemic underscored that the climate crisis won’t be averted one plane ride or gallon of gas at a time.

“We’ve come through this pandemic year when our lives changed more than any of us imagined they ever would,” said Mr. McKibben.

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