THE recent surge of COVID-19 in India has intrigued me to think if climate change contributed to COVID-19. To concur with my curious mind, Time Magazine published an article on the same subject. Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director of Research and Advocacy at Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi, expressed that the impact of the pandemic can be higher in polluted regions where people’s lungs have already been weakened due to long-term exposures to polluted air and hence making major Indian cities vulnerable. Another paper published in the journal, Cardiovascular Research, found that chronic exposure to particulate matter – a type of pollution that results from a mix of chemicals that come from sources like smokestacks and fires – is likely linked to some 15 per cent of global COVID-19 deaths.

Although particulate matter does not just come from fossil fuels, the study’s authors found that more than 50 per cent of air pollution-linked COVID-19 deaths are specifically connected to fossil-fuel use. Therefore, metropolises have experienced rapid spread of the virus than suburbs of India.
Our nature is integral facet of human body and has everything to contribute to our wellbeing. People in cities crave for fresh breath in the countryside. This might sound like nature excursion but there is much truth to it that the human body is connected to nature. The air and food that we consume determine our health as well. As we thank the nature for the fresh air of Guyana’s rich oxygen-laden rainforest, we shall make every effort to preserve and protect to continue to breathe and eat healthy.

Yours sincerely,

Jerri Dias