Elsevier

Environmental Research

Volume 193, February 2021, 110443
Environmental Research

Unprecedented environmental and energy impacts and challenges of COVID-19 pandemic

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110443Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The current state of affairs in water, air and energy resources has been discussed in detail.

  • Changes in air quality have shown an immediate impact on severity of episodes related to many underlying health conditions.

  • Faecal–oral transmission could be a possible route of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, along with aerosolization from WWTPs.

  • The use of WBE could be a valuable method to monitor the outbreak of COVID-19.

  • Instant responses are required to address the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the global economy.

Abstract

The rapid transmission tendency, severity, and wide geographical spread of newly emerged novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in different environmental matrices, including water, air, and soil, has posed severe health, environmental, energy, and economic challenges worldwide. Despite the severe health effects, unprecedented improvements in air quality in many countries due to emergency measures, and public behavior changes have been reported. SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in air and sewage samples in several studies across the globe. The use of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) could be a valuable method to monitor the outbreak of COVID-19, which requires fast and reliable methods for virus detection in sewage. However, water treatment companies face many pressures due to potential for aerosolization, PPE shortages, and changed usage patterns. In addition, the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the worldwide economy especially the energy sector, and its impact on our ecosystem required instant responses. This article discusses the recent developments and challenges faced in water, air, and energy resources, including renewables and non-renewables as the significant and interrelated components of the ecosystem. Furthermore, some recommendations have been directed, which may serve as a guideline to the scientists, legislators, and other stakeholders. A future roadmap has been proposed to overcome the tragic effects of COVID-19 and developing a sustainable environmental system to minimize the impact of such infectious outbreaks in the future.

Keywords

Environmental health
COVID 19
Sewage
Air quality
Oil economy
Energy resources

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1

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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