COVID 19 and Climate Change

 

COVID 19 and Climate change

In the recent surge of COVID 19 in India intrigued me to think if climate change contributed to COVID 19. To concur with my curious mind, Time magazine published an article on the same subject. Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive director of research and advocacy at Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi expressed that impact of pandemic can be higher in polluted regions where people’s lungs have already been weakened due to long term exposures to polluted air and hence making major Indian cities vulnerable. Another paper published in the journal Cardiovascular Research found that chronic exposure to particulate matter – a type of pollution that results from a mix of chemicals that come from sources like smokestacks and fires – is likely linked to some 15% of global COVID-19 deaths. Although particulate matter does not just come from fossil fuels, but the study’s authors found that more than 50% of air pollution-linked COVID-19 death are specifically connected to fossil-fuel use. Therefore, metropolises have experienced rapid spread of virus than suburbs of India.

Our nature is integral facet of human body and has everything to contribute to our wellbeing. People in cities crave for fresh breath in the countryside. This might sound like nature excursion but there much truth to it that human body is connected to the nature. The air and food that we consume determine our health as well. As we thank the nature for the fresh air that Guyana’s rich oxygen-laden rainforest, we shall make every efforts to preserve and protect to continue to breathe and eat healthy.

Jerri Dias
Georgetown