We have made a 2 minute long video discussing the environmental impacts of the COVID 19 Pandemic with special emphasis on the case of India. We have also created a website documenting our work on the project. 

Link to video

Alternate Link to video

It is important to show how the pandemic has affected our lives, our environment, and recognise the new challenges the pandemic has created for humanity. It is essential to understand the various indicators of environmental health to comprehend how and why the pandemic affects us. We compiled all such pieces of information in one place to help a greater audience understand and appreciate the fragility of our dear planet Earth!

We have talked about the changes COVID 19 brought in our lives. 

• Survey Data- We had also conducted a COVID 19 impact survey among more than 650 people in and outside India. The survey gave us insights into people’s perception of the pandemic.

• Mobility-The decrease in mobility caused due to the lockdowns imposed by governments all around the world have been discussed using the slowdown proxy maps given on the EO Dashboard. The bluer regions in the map act as a powerful visual tool to portray the relative changes in mobility in different areas.

The impacts of the reduced anthropogenic activities on the environment have been discussed next. 

• Air Quality- Improvements in the air quality around the world have been visualised with help of the animations of the world map showing CO₂  concentration across the time scale of the pandemic to show the correlation between decreased industrial activity and cleaner air.. The corresponding decrease in NO₂  concentration has also been represented using an animated graph. Clearer blue skies around the world and the curious case of Himalayas being visible from certain places (eg, Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, ~500km away from the Dhauladhar range) in India for the first time in 30 years.

• Agricultural Impact - The lockdowns disrupted supply chains and led to large scale rotting and wastage of farm produce. The plight of Azadpur Mandi, one of India’s largest vegetable markets located in New Delhi,  has been shown in the video. Insufficient transportation and logistics caused the rotting of vegetables and fruits. The vendors and farmers had to dump their produce and often fed it to stray animals. However the GEOGLAM Crop Monitor provided data about cropping conditions and dispelled uncertainty about global food security by confirming that cropping conditions had actually improved and there was no threat of food shortage in the near future.

• Water quality: A positive impact was observed during the lockdown in water quality in the various water bodies across India. Ganga and Yamuna showed clearer waters than many of the previous years. This was observable by tracking turbidity from satellite data. The case of Vembanad Lake (India’s Longest Freshwater Lake) located in Kerala was striking and we included that in our video. High resolution satellite imagery confirmed that Suspended Particulate Matter was the lowest in 2020 among all the previous years. 

• Bio-Medical Waste (BMW): The pandemic has also brought about a new challenge for humanity, i.e. steep increase in the Bio-Medical Waste due to the vast aggregation of PPE Kits, masks, face shields and hand gloves. The management of BMW has been a challenge for governments around the world. They have also been dumped in the water bodies at some places, thus affecting aquatic life as well. Unsegregated biomedical waste has ended up in the oceans thus adding to the menace of water pollution that already exists.  

• Impact on Wildlife- The effects on wildlife have been varied. While poaching rates of some animals like small mammals have gone up by 2 times in the first three months of the pandemic, other animals like exotic birds and big cats have been relieved with decreasing numbers. COVID-19 has led to an increase of human-animal interaction which is evident through various animal sightings in urban spaces.

The pandemic is a reality check for humans. With our project work we wish to send a lasting message to everyone in this world to realise why this pandemic occurred in the very first place and how we need to introspect and rectify our ways if we want to survive on the planet. We end our video by enlisting the 5 major lessons taught to us by the COVID 19 pandemic as we have shown through the course of our project work.

Among all the chaos, it is important to have a broader picture of what actually happened and is happening during the COVID-19 pandemic.We felt the appropriate presentation of the various COVID-19 stories was important to have a lasting impact on the people all across the world.

Our group initially analysed data from the EO Dashboard and complementary data from the space agencies NASA, JAXA and ESA, coupled with government data. We then prepared detailed summaries of all the varied topics we were covering. Then we went ahead to prepare a video story from the knowledge we gained through this study. We have presented most of the sources and study materials on our website as well as in the references section.

The various Softwares and Tools used are as follows: 

•  Adobe Premiere Pro
• Canva
• Google Slides
• Google Sheets
• Google Forms 
• Google docs
• iMovie
• Apple Keynote
• Apple Numbers
• Apple Pages
• Wix.com
• Wondershare Filmora
• WordArt.com

What problems and achievements did your team have?

• Our team was constrained by the data provided in the EO Dashboard. India had data of only 6 indicators. To properly narrate the story of COVID-19 we had to look at complimentary data from NASA, ESA and JAXA services and other credible sources. 
• In spite of having to work online with a limited amount of resources, we, as a team, kept at it and tried to devise newer ways of collecting data.
• One of our achievements throughout this process has been the conduction of a survey to assess the varied impacts on people of the pandemic. We conducted this survey among 600+ people and gathered results related to psychological, social, economic impacts people felt during the pandemic and are still reeling under. All of this has been documented to the best extent by us.

We have created data animations and infographics from the data available to us by NASA, ESA and JAXA on the EO Dashboard. Those animations and infographics have been used to supplement the various COVID 19 stories in the video and the website prepared by us. 

• We also used Chlorophyll-a concentration from JASMES map-monitor, JAXA

             Global cropped area data from Crop Monitor Geoglam.

• We have used the slowdown proxy maps from EO Dashboard to represent the decrease of mobility  in an effective way throughout the world after lockdown imposition.TSPMs are developed using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), and the ALOS-2 mission, operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

We have used the GEOGLAM crop monitor to know the current statuses of agricultural produce throughout the world and how the pandemic has been impacting crop produce throughout the world. The  Group on Earth Observation’s Global Agricultural Monitoring Initiative (GEOGLAM) Global Crop Monitor remote sensing data like temperate, soil moisture to record and predict crop conditions.

https://www.canva.com/design/DAEiu-PYRbc/B7LcSociyC6224_QoFpHYg/view?utm_content=DAEiu-PYRbc&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sharebutton

This is a 7 slide ppt.

The video can be directly embedded into the EO Dashboard. 

• The video can be uploaded on youtube. 
• An iframe element can be added in the HTML code of the website
• The iframe element will contain the link to the video
• CSS can be used to shape and style the iframe element according to the design aesthetic of the dashboard. 

News Articles

MOBILITY

• https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/from-france-to-kenya-heres-a-list-of-countries-that-have-imposed-lockdowns-to-curb-covid-19-spread-7248222
• https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/checkout-which-countries-have-imposed-a-covid-19-lockdown-again-as-cases-continue-to-rise/slidelist/79777511.cms
• https://scroll.in/article/990527/a-year-after-covid-19-lockdown-india-still-doesnt-have-reliable-data-or-policy-on-migrant-workers
• https://scroll.in/article/962925/the-routes-migrant-workers-are-taking-home-reflect-indias-brutally-uneven-geographical-development
• https://scroll.in/latest/962736/no-food-water-for-days-migrants-on-board-special-trains-protest-against-delays
• https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/16-migrant-workers-run-over-by-goods-train-near-aurangabad-in-maharashtra/article31531352.ece
• https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2020/07/13/the-impact-of-covid-19-and-the-policy-response-in-india/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_lockdowns?wprov=sfla1

AIR QUALITY

• https://earthsky.org/earth/satellite-images-air-pollution-india-covid19/
• https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/event/146381/environmental-effects-of-covid-19-quarantines
• https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-5P/Air_pollution_drops_in_India_following_lockdown
• https://www.ecowatch.com/india-air-pollution-coronavirus-2645617908.html#toggle-gdpr
• https://www.oecd.org/environment/indicators-modelling-outlooks/Policy-Highlights-Economic-consequences-of-outdoor-air-pollution-web.pdf 
• https://www.oecd.org/environment/indicators-modelling-outlooks/Policy-Highlights-Economic-consequences-of-outdoor-air-pollution-web.pdf  
• https://www2.iqair.com/sites/default/files/documents/REPORT-COVID-19-Impact-on-Air-Quality-in-10-Major-Cities_V5.pdf?_ga=2.243813445.1303574224.1587559320-489020689.15875593
• https://www.insider.com/before-after-photos-show-less-air-pollution-during-pandemic-lockdown#after-according-to-the-washington-post-air-pollution-in-new-delhi-dropped-by-almost-60-within-just-a-few-days-of-the-beginning-of-the-lockdown-10
• https://twitter.com/rameshpandeyifs/status/1255339125206589443?lang=en

WATER

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af9pZBcUn7A

WILDLIFE

• https://www.traffic.org/publications/reports/reported-wildlife-poaching-in-india-more-than-doubles-during-covid-19-lockdown/

BIOMEDICAL WASTE

• https://swachhindia.ndtv.com/yearender-2020-stepping-into-2021-with-bio-medical-waste-management-lessons-from-covid-19-pandemic-54763/
• https://swachhindia.ndtv.com/india-generated-over-18000-tonnes-of-covid-19-related-bio-medical-waste-in-4-months-experts-call-to-reduce-reuse-and-segregate-52901/
• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/bio-medical-waste-chokes-chennais-shore-post-covid/articleshow/79458538.cms
• https://www.danielshealth.com/knowledge-center/effects-biomedical-waste
• https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/world-environment-day-india-produced-45-308-tonnes-of-covid-19-biomedical-waste-in-previous-one-year-101622862552910.html

Research Papers Links

• Intro-

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7498239/
2. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42398-021-00159-9
3. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2020/07/13/the-impact-of-covid-19-and-the-policy-response-in-india/ 

• Mobility

1. https://covidtracker.bsg.ox.ac.uk/stringency-map
2. https://blog.gramener.com/mobility-analysis-during-covid-19/

• Air Quality- 

1.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7299871/
2. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/event/146381/environmental-effects-of-covid-19-quarantines
3. https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-5P/Air_pollution_drops_in_India_following_lockdown
4. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(20)30298-9/fulltext         
5. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/international-day-clean-air-blue-skies-underlines-link-between-healthy-air
6. https://www.oecd.org/environment/indicators-modelling-outlooks/Policy-Highlights-Economic-consequences-of-outdoor-air-pollution-web.pdf

• Agricultural Impact

1. https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1706032
2. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1700545

• Water Quality

1. https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/JASMES/SGLI_STD/monthly.html?area=g&prod=CHLA&drct=D 

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720325298#bb0155

• Biomedical Wastes

1. https://cpcb.nic.in/status-of-bmw-management/
2. https://cpcb.nic.in/covid-waste-management/
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4925840/
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7962757/
5. https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/4801743/?utm_source=showcase&utm_campaign=visualisation/4801743

• Impact on Wildlife

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7441970/
2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-1237-z

1. https://www.traffic.org/publications/reports/reported-wildlife-poaching-in-india-more-than-doubles-during-covid-19-lockdown/

• https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/international-day-clean-air-blue-skies-underlines-link-between-healthy-air
• https://www.oecd.org/environment/indicators-modelling-outlooks/Policy-Highlights-Economic-consequences-of-outdoor-air-pollution-web.pdf

#interconnected-earth-system-impact #storytelling #eodashboard #eodashboardhackathon

This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.