IMPACTS OF COVID - 19

1. According to World Air Quality average concentration of PM 2.5 in New Delhi came down by 71%. As a result Himalayan ranges were clearly visible from the Jalandhar area. It is a rarest incident after 30 years. Jalandhar is 200 kilometres to Dauladar ranges.
2. Reduced commuting  reduced sewage discharge to canals. Quality of river water improved. Ganga water is now fit to drink.
3. According to Brooklings Institution emerging markets and developing countries already owe eleven trillion dollar in external debt and face 3.9 trillion dollars in debt-service costs this year.
4. The pandemic crisis support mechanism has been alloted 263 billion euro by European Union
5. France and Germany together proposed to allot 500 billion euro for pandemic support.
6. With a global depression looming no country will be able to avoid the need for a massive stimulus spending and explosion of debt that will come with it.
7. European governments have been inclined to purchase companies'shares directly with some even pursuing temporary nationalization.
8. With social and economic disruption on a scale rarely seen since the end of World War 2 seventyfive years ago , the pandemic is forcing us to completely rethink ,the notion of business as usual .The COVID -19 crisis is shifting people's thinking sustainably.
9. Human health and health care in general have become number- one priority for global  leaders and healthy planet remains fundamental to all our endeavours to make the world healthier and more sustainable.

COVID RISKS OUTLOOK REPORT 

(Published by World Economic Forum)

• 500 million people are at risk of poverty.
• A prolonged recession over the next 18 months envisaged
• Required trillions of dollars to structural shifts and global economy going forward.
• Debt is a burden for government budgets and corporate balances for many years.
• Business could face adverse consumption, production and competition patterns.
• COVID -19 could have severe post-crisis effects on the planet anf it's species.
• Years of progress could be lost through underinvestment in infrastructure ,adaptation,withdrawals from previous commitments and weaker climate actions.This would give way to a vicious cycle. of continued environmental degradation,biodiversity loss,and further zoonotic infectious(animal originated) disease outbreaks.
• COVID19 led to extreme global hunger.
• Additional 265 million people pushed into acute food insecurity doubling last years total.
• Unemployment and lack of sufficient income made life miserable.
• 8 lakhs of young people set to leave education and face huge unemployment.
• Britain's economy could shrink by 14%.this year.
• GDP could plunge 25% in the second quarter of this year.
• Interest rates hold at 0.1% in bank's 325 years of history.
• Eurozone economy could shrink 7,75% in 2020. and unemployment up to 9.5% from 7.5.
• Greece could record shrink in GDP by 9.7%
• Italy may suffer 9.5% shrinkage and Spain 9.4% .
• As a result of the pandemic the global economy projected to contract sharply by 3% in 2020.Much worse than 2008-2009 global financial crisis.
• As pandemic fades in the second half of 2020 economy projected to grow by 5.8% in 2021 as economic activity normalises helped by policy support.
• So far countries have taken fiscal actions amounting to 8 trillion dollar to contain the pandemic and it's damage to the economy. 
• Emergency lifelines provided globally include higher spending and foregone revenues (3.3 trillion dollar public sector loans and equity injections(2.7 trillion dollar)
• G20 advanced emerging economies at forefront with actions totaling 7 trillion dollar. 

NUMBER OF CASES OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE HAS TRIPLED

Every decade since 1980s more than two thirds of these diseases originate in animals .About 70% of those come from wild animals.Many of the infectious diseases were familiar with _ Ebola,HIV,Swine flu and avian flu  _ are zoonotic. SARS - COV-2 and the disease it causes the COVID -19, has demonstrated how quickly modern outbreaks can become pandemics.

• Emerging market and developing countries face several shocks
• A steep drop in demand from abroad for  goods and services-plunging commodity prices,capital flight,higher borrowing costs in final markets and have less tax benefit system.
• Countries like India, and Kenya cash transfers made with unique ID system  and digital technologies, or in-kind provisions of food and medicine, such as in Bangladesh are possible options
• China offers temporary tax relief for most affected people and firms including transportation,tourism,and hospitality services.
• Full and timely value added tax refunds can grant business access to much needed cash.
• The pandemic and lockdown led to increases in debts and deficits beyond recorded in the global financial crisis.

Shocks   faced by emerging markets and developing countries ;

A steep drop in demand from abroad for goods and services,plunging commodity prices,capital flight,higher borrowing costs in final markets are the result of the pandemic.

Countries like India and Kenya cash transfers made with unique ID system and digital technologies, or in-kind provisions of food and medicine,such as in Bangladesh are possible options. China offers temporary tax relief for most affected people and firms including transportation,tourism, and hospitality services .Full and timely added tax refunds can grant business access to much needed cash.

According to WFP 265 million people could be pushed into acute food insecurity by COVID19.Majority of acute food insecure people lived in 2019 in countries affected by conflict&&million),climate change (34 million), economic crisis (24 million).In 55 countries 135 million people experienced highest levels of food insecurity.Unemployment may rise to 35 % from 7.6%  before the pandemic. 136 million jobs lost.174 million unemployed.And an opportunity loss of one trillion dollar.

• Emergency lifelines provided globally include higher spending and forgone revenues to the tune of 3.3 trillion dollar.
• Public sector loans and equity injections 2.7 trillion dollar.
• G20 advanced emerging economies spent a total of 7 trillion dollars.
• IMF  stands to deploy one trillion dollar lending to assist member countries which focus on low-income developing countries.
• US & Germany extended unemployment benefits , pay roll tax deferral,wage subsidies to small & medium enterprises.
• France  & Japan provided paid sick and family leave to those who are unwell,self isolate,or have to stay home and look after children during school closings. 

VIRUSES

• Viruses are bits of genetic code bundled inside a collection of lipids and proteins which can include a fat based casing known as viral envelope.
• Enveloped Viruses typically survive outside of a body for only a few days.
• Once their fragile exterior is broken down , they begin to degrade.
• Every enveloped virus is different.
• On a copper surface virus could be detected for 4 hours only.Copper naturally breaks down bacteria and viruses.
• Novel coronavirus and its cousin SARS,which caused a major outbreak in 2002 and 2003 , last on surfaces for similar amounts of time.
• Influenza viruses do not contain in porous surfaces like clothes for more than 4 hours.Because clothes pull moisture away from the virus and cause to degrade.
• Never coronavirus could persist as aerosol for up to 3 hours.
• Coronavirus does not penetrate skin because skin's outermost layers are slightly acidic, which prevents pathogens from entering the body( Greatorex).
• Sars virus SARS - CoV - 2 lasts for 24 hours on a cardboard.
• Long incubation period is an alarming condition in the case of COVID -19 virus.
• A new study published in M arch 2020 in Lancet found that coronavirus patients  shed the virus for between 8 and 37 days.
• Dozens of viruses exist in the corona virus family.But only 7 affect humans.
• Four are known to cause mild colds in people,while others are more novel,deadly and thought to be transmitted from animals like bats and camels.
• SARS -  CoV - 2 is the virus causing the disease COVID - 19.
• Ultraviolet rays is thought to degrade viruses.
• Soap opens the exterior envelope and causes to degrade virus.Soap molecules can trap tiny fragments of the virus which are washed away in water.
• A full grown immune response  can take another 3 days in humans.That means a respiratory virus like the flu ,which can replicate in as little as 8 hours ,is way ahead of the game.THE IMMUNE SYSTEM IS NOT SO EASILY TRICKED THE SECOND TIME.WHEN IT HAS BEATEN AN INVADER ONCE IT KEEPS A SPECIALISED WEAPONS CACHE DEDICATED TO THAT PARTICULAR PATHOGEN,READY TO MOUNT A HIGH SPEED REACTION IF IT HAS EVER DETECTED AGAIN.

HERDIMMUNITY

So the second time the disease shows up in your body the virus would not have that handy head start.f some people pass on the infection and others do not, the average transmission rate will be less than one.When transmission rate dips less than one a community is said to have  herd immunity.

• Dozens of viruses exist in the coronavirus family, but only seven affect humans.Four are known to cause mild colds in people, while others are more novel , deadly, and thought to be transmitted from animals like bats and camels.
• According to Harvard Epidemiology professor Marc Lipsitch within the coming years some 40 % to 70 % of people around the world will be infected with the virus that causes COVID - 19 . This does not mean all will have severe illness.It is likely that many will have mild disease or may be asymptomatic.About 14% of people with influenza have no symptoms. Lipsitch is the only one with the belief that this virus will continue to spread widely.
• With the other 4 virus infections people are not known to develop long-lasting immunity. If this virus follows suit and if the disease continues to be as severe as it is now( April 2020), "cold flu  season" could become cold and flu and COVID- 19 season.
• Warmer air holds more moisture which prevents airborne viruses from travelling as far as they could in dry air.
• In humid conditions the small liquid droplets in a cough or sneeze gather more moisture as they are expelled.
• Too heavy droplets cannot stay airborne,so they drop to the ground.

RECENT VIRUS OUTBREAKS

• Ebola virus outbreak in 2014 became pandemic
• Zika virus outbreak in 2015-2016
• SARS,Swine flu , bird flu etc. were also caused by viruses.
• Dozens of viruses exist in the corona virus family.But only 4 are known to cause mild colds in people while others are  more novel, deadly, and thought to be transmitted from animals like bats and camels.
• The virus SARS-CoV-2 and its disease COVID - 19
• Two viruses are involved in the infection of this new disease.coronavirus and paramyxovirus are supposed to cause one disease.
• Gene sequencing showed the virus contains single stranded RNA.IT CONTAINS ONE COPY OF A 27 TO 32 KB LONG CAPPED AND POLYADENYLATED AND HELICALLY ENCAPSIDATED BY NUCEOCAPSID PROTEINS.
• Corona virus destroys or atleast diminishes immunity in the patient so that second virus has practically an open door to go in and to sicken the patient beyond what this virus would be able to do normally.
• Both are common viruses found in all COVID-19 patients. According to Dr. David Heymann two viruses causing a single disease complicates the situation.
• The filamentous ribonucleocapsids are surrounded by matrix proteinswhich form form the virus cores. These cores are wrapped in envelopes formed during coronavirus budding from a host cell. 
• The membranes contain distinct club or petal shaped protrutions identified as S proteins.It is these proteins that give the virions a crown like appearance  in electron microscopic images. 
• S proteins are the major antigenic determinants of coronaviruses, and they mediate receptor association and fusions of the viral and cellular membranes.
• Coronaviruses from groups 1 & 2 ( genetic and serological groups) are know to cause disease in humans.Coronavirus diversity is generated by mutations due to polymerase infidelity. A key feature of coronavirus evolution is propensity of the viral genomic RNA to recombine.
• Recombination permits the virus to aquire genes and gene regions(pieces)from other transcripts, including those of other coronaviruses . 
• SARS -CoV - 2 has been detected in few ferrets,cats,tigers and dogs. But in Wuhan bats and pangolins are the suspected sources.
• Initial patients were either stall owners , market employees, or regular visitors to the wet market.
• Cspikes consist of two connected halves and the spike activates when those halves are separated. Only then can the virus enter a host cell.
• In SARS cassic this separation happens with some difficulty. But in SARS - CoV - 2 (COVID -19) THE BRIDGE THAT CONNECTS THE TWO  HALVES CAN BE EASILY CUT BY AN ENZYME CALLED FURIN.
• 43% of  people with the COVID-19 CAUSING VIRUS WILL NOT SHOW SYMPTOMS.
• Most respiratory viruses tend to infect either the upper airways or lower airways .
• Upper respiratory infection spreads more easily , but tend to be milder  while a lower respiratory infection is harder to transmit, but more severe.
• Antiviral antibodies emerge 3 to 4 days after virus detection. Cytotoxic T cell play an important role against COVID-19.
• full grown immune response can take 3 days,which means that a respiratory virus like flu can replicate in as little as 8 hours.
• COVID -19 has time to replicate itself and infect a new host before the immune response within a cell can take around 24 hours to trigger,says Elly Gaunt(virologist, University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute).
• African swine fever is a viral disease affecting pigs and wild boar with up to 100% fatality rate.There is no vaccine . The virus can exist in the environment and in a variety of swine products.
• First reported in Kenya in 1921. It became endemic in most sub Saharan African countries.
• The new virus could be just the very tip of the iceberg in terms of animal borne diseases infecting humans.
• Zoonoses(animal borne diseases) cause 2.5 billion cases of illnesses.And zoonotic diseases cause 2.7 million deaths every year.

Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners typically use Tan Re Qing to treat bronchitis and upper respiratory infections. Bile is extracted from Bear by inserting a catheter,syringe or pipe into gall bladder of Bear. Tan Re Qing injections contain a horn powder, extracts from several plants and Bile from bear. Clifford Steer,prof. of University of Minnesotta,Minneapolis was studying benefits of ursodeoxycholic acid. He fond that bear bile is not an effective treatment for novel corona virus.But he says ursodeoxycholic acid is distinct from other bile acids in it's ability to keep cells alive and may alleviate symptoms of COVID19 because of it's antiinflammatory properties and ability to calm the immune response.

CONSEQUENCES OF DESTROYING FORESTS AND HABITATS

• Rate of environmental degradation puts life on Earth at risk.
• Large mammal with a core body temperature of 37 degree Celsius, will be able to evolve that quickly - there is no evidence.Insects can but humans can't and that is the problem.
• Economic system is driving us towards an unsustainable future and people of our daughter's generation will find it hard to survive.
• Humans are eating away at our own life support systems at a rate unseen in the past ten thousand years,two research papers say.
• By degrading land and fresh water systems and emitting green house gases and releasing vast amounts of  agricultural chemicals into the environment.
• Every lung full of air that you take is refined by the natural world,oxygen breathed out by plants.If you can't  breathe and you can't eat,you don't exist.
• We are going into largely undisturbed places and being exposed more and more. We are creating habitats where viruses are transmitted more easily , and then we are surprised that we have new ones.
• We cut trees,we kill the animals or cage them and send them to markets.
• We disrupt ecosystems and we shake viruses from their natural hosts. When that happens they need a new host. Often we are it.
• Altered habitat leads to changes in the number of vector breeding sites or reservoir host distribution.
• Ecosystem change incuding forest placing at risk the sustainability of human well - being and development 
• Ill health is directly or indirectly a result of excessive consumption of ecosystem services(eg; food and energy). Substantial reduction in consumption would have major health benefits and simultaneously reduce pressure on life-support systems.

Scientists warn worse pandemics are on the way if we don't protect nature.Three co-authors of the comprehensive 2019 IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services explained that there are 1.7 million unidentified viruses known to infect people are estimated to exist in mammals and water birds. Anyone of these may be more disruptive and lethal than COVID-19.

CONSEQUENCES OF COVID 19

• COVID 19 led to exreme global hunger. According to world food program 265 million people could be pushed into acute food insecurity by COVID 19 doubling last year's total.(77 million). In 2019 acute food insecure people lived in countries affected by conflict, climate change(34 million),economic crisis (24 million),2019 closed with 135 million food insecure across 55 countries.
• Unemployment caused by COVID 19 in UK 9%
• British economy could shrink 14% this year.
• GDP could plunge 25% in the second quarter.Interest rates hold at 0.1%.It is first time in the history of the Bank of England. Eurozone likely to shrink 7.75%in 2020. Unemployment  9.5%
• Greece to shrink its economy by 9.7%
• GDP of Italy  & Spain to contract by 9.5% and 9.4% respectively.
• In China the pandemic has caused 15% to 40% reduction in key industrial outputs, leading to 25% drop in carbon emissions.

LIVE ANIMAL EXPORTS

• Global trade in live farm animals quadrupled over the past 50 years.
• Two billion animals a year is truckedand shipped around the world.
• In 1988 global trade in live animals was amonted to  716million dollar .
• In 2017 it has risen to 21 billion dollar.
• In 2016 Saudi Arabia alone imported live animals worth one billion dollar(but mostly sheep)
• Nearly two billion pigs,chickens,cattle, sheep,and goatrucked around the world in 2017
• The increase in the previous decades is like this: 1967(130 million),1977(260 million),1987(440 million),1997(680million),2007(1billion),20171.9 billion).

FOREST FIRES 

• Recent forest fires in Australia burned 10 million hectares of land which killed 800 million animals.
• Bush fires killed 100,000 cattle and sheep.
• 1320 farm animals euthanised or confirmed dead due to bush fires in New South Wales.
• Last year fires in Amazon made international headlines.It would have dramatic implications  for regional rainfallleading to drier conditions across South America's bread basket and major urban areas.
• Amazon forests store and recycle vast amount of carbon.When trees go the climate alters not only in the Amazon region but over a much wider area.

THE WORLD OF CHEMICALS

• Around 100,000 different chemicals find their way into everyday products.
• In 2013 worldwide chemical sales were valued at 3.2 trillion euros.
• Chemicals to assist agricultural production , develop medicine , and produce customer goods can be hazardous to human health over long term , accumulating in our bodies through environmental exposure.
• more than 25% of global burden of human disease can be traced back to preventable environmental factors, including exposure to chemicals. 
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COMMON CHEMICALS IN HOSPITALS

• Mercury in medical devices like IVs to formaldehyde in laboratories
• Gluteraldehyde in disinfectants
• Dioxins in waste dumps 

Patients and health care workers are the most vulnerable.They are exposed to these chemical substances every day.Workers who manufacture and dispose of the products are also at risk

• Disinfectants contain hazardous chemicals including sodium hypochlorite(which irritates the skin and breathing through release of chlorine gas) and glutaraldehyde (a skin irritant and carcinogen) .
• The widespread use of sodium hypochlorite is harmful. They are not only used to clean medical supplies but also to wash surfaces and floors in the reception areas and offices.This chemical cause our eyes to burn and get our sense of smell affected.

DREADFUL CONSEQUENCES

• One million people die from occupational poisoning every year.
• Two million die annually indoor smoke from solid fuel use.
• 1.2 million die every year from outdoor air pollution.
• 375 thousands die die from occupational particulates.

DESERTS

The Main Deserts

1. North African Deserts(Great Basin & Majave)

REFUGEES WORLD

• One in every 110 people is displaced.
• 68.5 million people the world over fleeing because of war or persecution.
• In 2017 16.2 million people newly displaced around the world
• refugees from Myanmar to Bangladesh over 2017 concentrated in 100 days towards the end of August was 6,55,500
• half of the refugees are children
• In 2016 50 million child migrants were there worldwide
• one in 200 refugees are children

TODAY IS WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

This year UN has set a theme for Environment Day.That is to BEAT PLASTIC POLLUTION.
We are in constant touch with and use of plastics.It has become so inseparable an item in our life.
The tragedy is the waste plastic we throw away is so huge.It causes hazardous consequences.Oceans are filled with plastics.Marine organisms including fish,birds,turtles etc. swallow this plastic.The ecosystem balance is affected.We encounter lethal diseases like cancer and such series of illness.For the healthy planet and healthy human life we have to take urgent steps to reduce plastic consumption and waste.

WHY WE NEED FORESTS

Forests play an important role in the livelihoods and welfare of a vast number of people who live in and off the forest.

1. By absorbing water and holding soil in place, forests reduce the risk of floods and mudslides that result from earthquakes and hurricanes.
2. Forests protect watersheds which supply fresh water to rivers - critical sources of drinking water.
3. The cloud forests La Tigra National Park in Honduras provide more than 40% of the water supply for the capital city,tegucigalpa and it's 850,000 people.
4. More than 1.6 billion people around the world depend to varying degrees on forests for their livelihoods,not just for food but also for fuel,for livestock grazing areas and for medicine.
5. More than 300 million people live in forests.
6. Forests are home to 80% of the world's terrestrial biodiversity.
7. Forests cover 31% of total land area .
8. More than 40% of the world's oxygen is produced by rain forests.

1. Forests Provide

SHELTER

• Livelihoods
• Water
• Fuel and Food to 2 billion people directly and help regulate the climate for everyone on the planet.

• Forests play an important role in the livelihoods and welfare of a vast number of people who live in and off the forest.

• Marine ecosystems support more than 660 million jobs globally and are significant source of protein,particularly in developing countries.
• More than 1.6 billion people around the world depend to varying degrees on forests for their livelihoods,not just for food but also for fuel,for livestock grazing areas and for medicine.
• Forests protect watersheds which supply fresh water to rivers(critical sources of drinking water).
• The cloud forests of La Tigra National Park in Honduras provide more than 40% of the water supply for the capital city,Tegucigalpa and its 850,000 people.
• Forests are home to 300 million people.
• Forests are home to 80% of the world's terrestrial biodiversity.
• The carbon in forests exceeds the amount of carbon currently in the atmosphere.
• More than a quarter of medicines  worth an estimated 108 billion us dollar a year,originate from tropical forest plants.

MANGROVE FORESTS

• Mangroves are the most productive ecosystems.
• Globally  there are 60 true mangrove sp. in 23 genera and families.
• In India there are 34 species of true mangroves. Bhitarkanika (Orissa)has 31 species. 
• Sunderbans  have 27 species
• Andaman and Nicobar islands have 24 species.
• India is home to more than 7% of the world's mangrove forests.
• Mangroves make up 8% of the Indian coastline.
• 80% of the mangrove forests are found on the eastern coast of India.
• Mangroves are also found in over two thirds of the salt water coastal areas of tropical and subtropical Africa,Asia,Australia and North America,and South America.
• Mangroves are nesting grounds for hundreds of species of birds,which build nests on the branches.
• Mangroves are very leafy and take in a lot of CO2 from atmosphere to make biomass.This reduces the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
• If mangroves are destroyed migratory birds will no longer have a safe haven to halt and rest.
• Mangrove deforestation is contributing to decline in fisheries,degradation of clean water supplies, increasing salinity of coastal soils,erosion, and land subsidence.
• Mangroves are known as soldiers of the Coasts.
• Indonesia has the largest area under mangroves with 30% of the global coverage,followed by Brazil,Australia and India.
• Red mangroves is the most common mangrove sp. in the world.
• Redmangroves (genus Rhizophora)are well adapted to salty swamps.
• Black mangroves,white mangroves,and buttonwood mangroves  grow around redmangrove clusters.
• Mangroves slow down the force of the sea waves and thus,protect coastline.
• Sunderban mangrove forests are home to more than 35 sp. of reptiles,270 sp. of birds,and 42 sp. of marine mammals.
• The salt water or estuarine crocodile (the largest of all living reptiles) is found in this mangrove forest.

VANAMAHOTSAVA

The first successful tree planting week was celebrated in Delhi in July 1947, with the participation of national leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad , Abdul Kalaam Azad, among many other important personalities. The celebration was renamed Vana Mahotsava , the grand festival of forests or trees.