User:Carson2019/Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment

Lead

Article Body

According to the World Health Organization, more than 80% of individuals living in cities are exposed to dangerous air pollution, which has been associated to an increased risk of COVID-19 problems and mortality.

These changes in air pollution have also effected water quality since the start of the pandemic. Air quality and surface water quality have a close connection, however this impact on water systems is still unclear. Many factors, like the characteristics of the soil as well as urbanization in the area, can affect the water quality. This leads many to believe that improvements due to COVID-19 may be temporary, however there has been notable decreases in pollutants when looking at various water systems.

Water demand has been affected by the pandemic in many ways. In residential areas water demand has increased, while non-residential demand has decreased. This is, in part, due to the fact that people were staying home, resulting in them using water at home rather than in an office or restaurant. These effects vary depending on the makeup of these non-residential sectors, however as a whole these changes have been seen. References:


 * https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/13978/assessment-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-water-environment-and-related-ecological-and-human
 * https://pacinst.org/how-the-coronavirus-pandemic-is-affecting-water-demand/
 * https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2020/06/08/coronavirus-improving-water-quality/
 * https://undark.org/2020/03/24/coronavirus-clean-water/