How the global eco-environmental patterns change due to COVID-19

The coronavirus diseases-2019 (COVID-19) has impacted many parts of the world in various ways, in particular human activities such as recreation, living, manufacturing, and interaction with the nature, since its outbreak in early 2020. As lockdown measures are the only solution to reduce and even cease the spread of virus, their implementation is a must and, thus, stops most of the human activities. It has been demonstrated that the natural environment has been much improved with the implementation of the lockdown measures for both regions and nations, lacking investigation on the global environment. In this study, we aim to examine the influence of the lockdown measures on the global environmental vulnerability and risk by comparing the global eco-environmental vulnerability in years 2016 and 2020. The findings of the global eco-environmental vulnerability in the year 2016 by Nguyen et al. (2019) serve as a reference. The year 2020 global earth observation dataset and satellite remote sensing data derived variables are used for the assessment of eco-environmental vulnerability and risk with aid of GIS modelling and spatial analysis. The accumulated impacts of the natural and human stressors on the world’s eco-environment are presented. The outcomes are validated by using PM_2.5 data with dust removal.  Results reveal that COVID-19 pandemic with lockdown situation has significantly contributed to the overall improved eco-environmental condition. A decreasing trend in the global eco-environmental vulnerability is observed approximately by 4.72% and 2.78% for the high and very high vulnerability and risk levels, respectively, as a result of reduced human activities likely associated with the implementation of lockdown measures in response to COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Global eco-environment; vulnerability and risk; spatiotemporal changes; human activities; COVID-19