Living in the world hit by the pandemic, people are suffering and left with fear, despair, and loneliness. The economy is shaken, the medical system is shaken, and the educational body is shaken.

There seemed to be no one benefiting from this status quo. However, recently, multiples of positive signs have been noticed in our ecosystem after the outbreak of COVID-19. As humans stopped their activities, nature has begun healing and prospering.

Many are quarantined due to the “social distancing” policies and “stay-home” movements enforced by the government; Individuals are experiencing stricter prohibition. People could not gather up at their workplaces; Majority of them got unemployed and the rest worked at home. As a result, factories stopped running. This turned on a red flag to most businesses, yet it caused a miracle to happen. The ozone layer, a protective shield keeping the Earth safe from the ultraviolet radiation that comes from the sun, is healing.

The hole in the ozone layer, which has always been uncontrollable despite all the efforts, began to shrink in size. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are the substances that greatly threaten the ozone layer, and they are generally found in exhaust emissions. Soon as the factories shut down, the amount of CFCs released into the air sharply declined.

The scientists and researchers say that the ozone layer even has the potential to fully recover. Another case has been highlighted after footsteps of tourists ended as travel restrictions have been imposed. The local news of Venice, Italy reported that the canals are the clearest it has been in the past 60 years.

Now, water flowing through the canals is clear and full of swimming fish and paddling swans. Even dolphins were spotted down in Cagliari’s port, in Sardinia. Similarly, environmentalists announced that baby leatherback sea turtles are thriving since visitors are hardly seen at beaches. They found 11 nests on one beach of Thailand and 76 nests on one beach of Florida, which they emphasized it’s the largest number of nests found in the past two decades and a significant increase compared to last year.

Although it appears to be a devastative, prolonged fight, one day the pandemic will end. Through the mistakes and experiences, people must learn.

By the time individuals return to their regular lives, they should have changed and developed. Specifically, humans need to focus on signals of nature.

The enormous improvements that were noticed within a few weeks during the quarantine hold so much significance and shall be remembered. When the industries and crowds paused, the Earth started to breathe.



<Dawon Kim / National University Virtual High School 11th Grade>