Healing the Earth: Hope Amidst Fear

by Anushka Kar

Many of our plans have been cancelled, chaos seems imminent, and we have been forced to adapt to an invisible parasite, Covid19.

Yet, while it appears we are going downhill, there are also reasons to hope.

Beijing - since and before Covid 19

Due to isolation, and the restrictions placed upon us, the Earth itself is healing; nature finally has its own place in our world, without human disturbance. The lack of human activity has allowed air pollution levels to drop drastically (specifically in largely populated countries such as China), waters to clear (such as in Venice, where fish and multi-coloured plant life can now be seen), and animals to journey to tourist destinations (for example in Japan, where sika deer can be seen living amongst the people in their homes).

While isolation may not be everyone’s favourite idea or preferred way to spend the upcoming Easter holidays, the reaction to such restrictions determine how well one can cope, perhaps even thrive. It can be a chance to finally do the things you never got round to, or the chance to live a healthy lifestyle without distractions or excuses. 

As a young generation, we are so aware of our health alongside the health of the world as a whole; we have to be, because climate change is another problem we have to solve. But we have now seen the implications of allowing the Earth to heal if emissions are reduced in just a few weeks and months.

The outbreak of coronavirus and the chaos among humans it has caused has allowed us to visibly see such an improvement to the environment.