COVID-19 pandemic

=== Environment ===
{{Main|Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment}}

[[File:Pollutant Drops in wuhan china due to virus.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Images from the [[NASA Earth Observatory]] show a stark drop in pollution in [[Wuhan]], when comparing [[Nitrogen dioxide|NO<sub>2</sub>]] levels in early 2019 (top) and early 2020 (bottom).<ref>{{#invoke:cite web ||url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146362/airborne-nitrogen-dioxide-plummets-over-china |title=Earth Observatory |date=28 February 2020 |access-date=9 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402162640/https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146362/airborne-nitrogen-dioxide-plummets-over-china |archive-date=2 April 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
The pandemic and the reaction to it positively affected the [[Natural environment|environment]] and [[climate]] as a result of reduced human activity. During the "[[anthropause]]", fossil fuel use decreased, resource consumption declined, and waste disposal improved, generating less pollution.<ref name=":9">{{#invoke:cite journal || vauthors = Rume T, Islam SM | title = Environmental effects of COVID-19 pandemic and potential strategies of sustainability | journal = Heliyon | volume = 6 | issue = 9 | pages = e04965 | date = September 2020 | pmid = 32964165 | pmc = 7498239 | doi = 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04965 | bibcode = 2020Heliy...604965R }}</ref> [[Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic#Transportation|Planned air travel]] and vehicle transportation declined. In China, [[COVID-19 lockdown in Hubei|lockdowns]] and other measures resulted in a 26% decrease in coal consumption, and a 50% reduction in nitrogen oxides emissions.<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{#invoke:cite journal ||last1=Hotle |first1=Susan |last2=Mumbower |first2=Stacey |title=The impact of COVID-19 on domestic U.S. air travel operations and commercial airport service |journal=Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives |date=1 March 2021 |volume=9 |pages=100277 |doi=10.1016/j.trip.2020.100277 |s2cid=230597573 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198220301883 |access-date=9 June 2023 |issn=2590-1982}}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:cite web||url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/air-cleaner-2020-coronavirus-pandemic-pollution/|title=The air got cleaner in 2020, thanks to the pandemic|website=[[CBS News]] |date=19 November 2020}}</ref>

In 2020, a worldwide study on mammalian wildlife responses to human presence during COVID lockdowns found complex patterns of animal behavior. Carnivores were generally less active when humans were around, while herbivores in developed areas were more active. Among other findings, this suggested that herbivores may view humans as a shield against predators, highlighting the importance of location and human presence history in understanding wildlife responses to changes in human activity in a given area.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Main |first1=Douglas |title=How Wild Animals Actually Responded to Our COVID Lockdowns |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-wild-animals-actually-responded-to-our-covid-lockdowns/ |access-date=20 March 2024 |publisher=Scientific American |date=18 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319030256/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-wild-animals-actually-responded-to-our-covid-lockdowns/ |archive-date=19 March 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

A [[List of animals that can get SARS-CoV-2|wide variety]] of largely mammalian species, both captive and wild, have been shown to be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, with some encountering a particularly high degree of fatal outcomes.<ref>{{#invoke:cite journal ||last1=Pappas |first1=Georgios |last2=Vokou |first2=Despoina |last3=Sainis |first3=Ioannis |last4=Halley |first4=John M. |title=SARS-CoV-2 as a Zooanthroponotic Infection: Spillbacks, Secondary Spillovers, and Their Importance |journal=Microorganisms |date=31 October 2022 |volume=10 |issue=11 |pages=2166 |doi=10.3390/microorganisms10112166 |pmid=36363758 |pmc=9696655 |issn=2076-2607 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In particular, both [[SARS-CoV-2 in mink|farmed and wild mink]] have developed highly symptomatic and severe COVID-19 infections, with a mortality rate as high as 35–55% according to one study.<ref name="Frontiers Spread">{{#invoke:cite journal ||last1=Devaux |first1=Christian |last2=Pinault |first2=Lucile |last3=Delerce |first3=Jérémy |last4=Raoult |first4=Didier |last5=Levasseur |first5=Anthony |last6=Frutos |first6=Roger |title=Spread of Mink SARS-CoV-2 Variants in Humans: A Model of Sarbecovirus Interspecies Evolution |journal=Frontiers in Microbiology |date=20 September 2021 |volume=12 |page=675528 |doi=10.3389/fmicb.2021.675528 |pmid=34616371 |pmc=8488371 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:cite journal ||last1=Eckstrand |first1=Chrissy |last2=Baldwin |first2=Thomas |last3=Rood |first3=Kerry |last4=Clayton |first4=Michael |last5=Lott |first5=Jason |last6=Wolking |first6=Rebecca |last7=Bradway |first7=Daniel |last8=Baszler |first8=Timothy |title=An outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 with high mortality in mink (Neovison vison) on multiple Utah farms |journal=PLOS Pathogens |date=12 November 2021 |volume=17 |issue=11 |pages=e1009952 |doi=10.1371/journal.ppat.1009952 |pmid=34767598 |pmc=8589170 |doi-access=free}}</ref> [[SARS-CoV-2 in white-tailed deer|White-tailed deer]], on the other hand, have largely avoided severe outcomes but have effectively become [[natural reservoir]]s of the virus, with large numbers of free-ranging deer infected throughout the US and Canada, including approximately 80% of [[Iowa]]'s wild deer herd.<ref>{{#invoke:cite news ||last1=Jacobs |first1=Andrew |title=Widespread Coronavirus Infection Found in Iowa Deer, New Study Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/02/science/deer-covid-infection.html |access-date=5 November 2021 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102164643/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/02/science/deer-covid-infection.html |archive-date=2 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="Nature April">{{#invoke:cite news ||last1=Mallapaty |first1=Smriti |title=COVID is spreading in deer. What does that mean for the pandemic? |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01112-4 |access-date=26 April 2022 |publisher=Nature |date=26 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426133110/https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01112-4 |archive-date=26 April 2022}}</ref> An August 2023 study appeared to confirm the status of white-tailed deer as a disease reservoir, noting that the viral evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in deer occurs at triple the rate of its evolution in humans and that infection rates remained high, even in areas rarely frequented by humans.<ref name="Triple Evolution">{{#invoke:cite journal ||last1=McBride |first1=Dillon S. |last2=Garushyants |first2=Sofya K. |last3=Franks |first3=John |last4=Magee |first4=Andrew F. |last5=Overend |first5=Steven H. |last6=Huey |first6=Devra |last7=Williams |first7=Amanda M. |last8=Faith |first8=Seth A. |last9=Kandeil |first9=Ahmed |last10=Trifkovic |first10=Sanja |last11=Miller |first11=Lance |last12=Jeevan |first12=Trushar |last13=Patel |first13=Anami |last14=Nolting |first14=Jacqueline M. |last15=Tonkovich |first15=Michael J. |last16=Genders |first16=J. Tyler |last17=Montoney |first17=Andrew J. |last18=Kasnyik |first18=Kevin |last19=Linder |first19=Timothy J. |last20=Bevins |first20=Sarah N. |last21=Lenoch |first21=Julianna B. |last22=Chandler |first22=Jeffrey C. |last23=DeLiberto |first23=Thomas J. |last24=Koonin |first24=Eugene V. |last25=Suchard |first25=Marc A. |last26=Lemey |first26=Philippe |last27=Webby |first27=Richard J. |last28=Nelson |first28=Martha I. |last29=Bowman |first29=Andrew S. |title=Accelerated evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in free-ranging white-tailed deer |journal=Nature Communications |date=28 August 2023 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=5105 |doi=10.1038/s41467-023-40706-y |pmid=37640694 |pmc=10462754 |bibcode=2023NatCo..14.5105M }}</ref>