b'Ms GerrardsLOCKDOWN Thats near A r tis forannoying internet crashes of LOCKDOWNis forbiscuitsandboring: exercise bike and painting the fenceis forcartoons and jokes Socialdistancingcelebrations cancelledchocolateclap for carers 2mandmostimportantlyCONTACT with family enough for me! At t a c kand friends on the phoneA MUCH-NEEDED BREAK?Empty streets, quiet skies, silent cities, an isolatedThe coronavirus has also had negative environmental world. Can all this have a positive effect on ourimpacts. The volume of unrecyclable materials has planet? risen; severe cuts in agricultural and fishery export However bad the coronavirus may be, it has had alevels have led to large quantities of organic waste. few beneficial impacts on our environment. MillionsMaintenance and monitoring of natural ecosystems of us being in lockdown has had a drastic impacthave been temporarily halted. Local waste problems on our CO 2emissions, helping to prevent climatehave emerged as municipalities have suspended their change. Restricted movement and advice to Stayrecycling activities over fears of virus propagation in at Home has significantly reduced air and roadrecycling centres. Food retailers have resumed using travel. In Europe, the number of flights is down byplastic bags due to health concerns over consumer around 90% and globally the demand for jet fuel isreuse of paper bags. Consumers have increased down by 65%. According to the IEA, global averagetheir consumption of takeaway food delivered with road transport activity fell to 50% of the 2019 levelsingle-use packaging, and farmers have been left by the end of March 2020. This has ultimatelywith overgrown crops leading to mass waste in fields resulted in a reduction of air pollution. Statisticsacross the world.show emissions this year will fall by 4-8%. Covid-19 has given our planet a much-needed break; In different parts of the world, the water in canalscarbon and methane emissions have been reduced, has cleared and led to greater water flow due toand the environment appears to be benefiting from the settling of sediment, which is usually disturbedthis break. It seems only a deadly pandemic was by boat traffic. We have seen a reduction in litterstrong enough to stop the human race from ruining on beaches, and restriction of human movementthe world. Therefore, it looks like its only a matter means unusual animals have been spotted in citiesof time before its back to factory pollution and car as they go around freely. fumes for us.Yaseen Usman4'