[austinl]

I love this story [1] of how folks in Jalandhar and north India were able to see the Himalayas for the first time in 30 years due to the lack of traffic pollution during the COVID lockdowns. It gives some hope as to what is possible.

Relatedly, I'd recommend watching the documentary The Year Earth Changed [2] which is about several environmental systems that recovered to some degree during COVID.

I don't think we should necessarily aim to restrict commuting to protect the environment, but now there's evidence that WFH + transitioning to cleaner energy sources can make a significant impact.

[1] https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/himalayas-visible-lockdow...

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XswV_yqPq28

[geodel]

It reminds of joke around that time: The air is so clear nowadays that one can even see their dark future clearly

[m463]

> able to see the Himalayas for the first time in 30 years due to the lack of traffic pollution

One though regarding this. I think complicated and expensive emission controls on cars became grudgingly acceptable because it reduced smog - which people can see.

I wonder if anything would have happened if smog wasn't visible. For example, I wonder if particulates might be worse than smog.

[dylan604]

>became grudgingly acceptable because it reduced smog

as well as switching from leaded gasoline. within my lifetime we no longer hear about acid rain. it took a lot of convincing to make the switch to unleaded, but the results are obvious. CFCs from spray cans are also an example.

essentially, we've known for decades that emission controls can allow for the climate to repair itself. it just takes a lot of convincing to get people/industry to accept those changes. we didn't need a global pandemic. or did we? GenZ has no experience with the examples i mentioned, so maybe this was their version???

[marcosdumay]

Acid rain was stopped by controlling the amount of sulfur in the fuel and adding catalyzing converters at the engines output. It has no relation with lead.

[dylan604]

Okay, so I confused the cause of the acid rain with an entirely different man made climate atrocity. The point still stands if not even stronger as we've just provided a separate example

[tacotacotaco]

True, acid rain was not caused my lead but there was public and industry resistance to requiring all vehicles use catalytic converters. Lead had to be removed from fuel because it corroded the catalytic converter. It was chaotic for several years but the car industry was able to make it work. The market didn’t remediate acid rain, regulation did.

[alephnerd]

That region of Punjab (Doab region) and Himachal (Kangra Valley) is heavily industrialized.

When the COVID lockdowns in India kicked into enforcement, factories shut down, and millions of migrant workers from Eastern UP and Bihar left.

The area in the Doab and Kangra regions was better simply because factories shut down and haven't returned, fueling a localized recession that has resurrected the ghost of Khalistan, exacerbated the Heroin epidemic in the region, and further incentivized the (by Indian standards) highly educated and economically well off local population to emigrate to "Kaneda", "Noo Jeeland", and "Oostralia".

Hopefully with the massive $1.3 billion API/Pharmaceutial precursor industrial park the BJP and Congress Party are building together in that area [0] along with the high speed rail [1] making the commute time to Greater Chandigarh (the largest city and economy north of Delhi) and New Delhi doable within 1 hour and 2.5 hours respectively, we might see an economic recovery.

Source: extended family live in the region

[0] - https://www.outlookindia.com/outlook-spotlight/department-of...

[1] - https://m.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/new-delhi-una-vande...

[deepsun]

Feynman wrote that in 70s, before emissions control, he could barely breathe in Pasadena, near Los Angeles. The smog burned the throat and eyes.

[HelloMcFly]

I want to watch that show "The Year Earth Changed" but I'm afraid it will just make me so sad.