Pictures: How humans slowing down due to coronavirus has had an impact on our planet

As the world battles a pandemic that has taken the lives of many, some are highlighting the positive impact our planet has had because of the slowdown in human activity.

Pictures of Venice, Italy with crystal clear water, showing fish swimming are being shared online. One Twitter user, @IngridFalasteen, shared such pictures and wrote: “@IngridFalasteen: Venice today with never before seen crystal clear water in the last 60 years, just after 6 days of quarantine, the positive side of coronavirus: planet earth is finally getting a break from us.”

Similarly, another tweep @leotina_a posted: “I think the earth is silently thanking coronavirus for help pausing human from going out to work and destroying the environment…”

Netizens are also sharing pictures of swans swimming between the canals in Venice. Twitter user @fiIterjm wrote: “Since there’s no boats’ traffic in Venice’s canals, white swans came back. This is precious.”

Not only is the water clear but Italy’s air has also been recorded to be cleaner. New data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Copernicus Sentinel-5p satellite, which can measure concentrations of greenhouse gases and pollutants in the atmosphere, shows that between January 1 and March 11, concentrations of nitrogen dioxide over Italy fell drastically.

In China, where the virus was first detected, a sharp decline in pollution and greenhouse gases has been recorded as well. Social media users are sharing pictures of how decreases in industrial, transportation, and business activity since the coronavirus outbreak has reduced levels of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) over the country.

Commenting on the changes in the environment coronavirus has caused, Twitter user @stojano wrote: “The next few weeks, months the Earth will breathe again. Less flights, less individual transportation, less consumption. #coronavirus #COVID19 #green #environment”