This Week’s Most-Liked Tweet: ‘Less Air Pollution’ Reveals Universal Pictures Logo In The Sky

TOPLINE

A French CG artist created an image that appeared to show the iconic Universal Pictures logo floating in the sky due to “less air pollution” from the worldwide stay-at-home orders enacted because of coronavirus, in a tweet that received the most likes on Twitter this week, according to data compiled by the social media tracking firm NewsWhip.

KEY FACTS

Big number 

4,000 young children and 73,000 elderly adults. That’s how many people’s lives have possibly been saved in China over two months due to the drop in air pollution, according to analysis from Stanford University.

Key background

The coronavirus pandemic has been devastating, but the dramatic slowing of human activity seems to have benefited the environment. Besides the drop in air pollution, The Atlantic reported that seismologists are more easily able to detect earthquakes. Before the pandemic, activity from trains and automobiles would be detected by seismic stations. Noise pollution in urban areas also seems to have dropped, with one researcher at Boston University detecting a 30 decibel decrease in what is normally a busy intersection near campus. The oceans are also quieter as cruise ships stop sailing, according to a Cornell University researcher, when ambient noise from ships has been shown to increase stress hormones in marine animals. 

Further reading

The Pandemic Is Turning the Natural World Upside Down (The Atlantic)

The Coronavirus Offers A Radical New Vision For India’s Cities (The New Yorker)

COVID-19 Reduces Economic Activity, Which Reduces Pollution, Which Saves Lives (Stanford University)

The Most Popular Tweet This Week Is The Comedic Relief We All Need From Coronavirus News (Forbes)

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