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 ENVIRONMENTAL RESILIENCE AND
TRANSFORMATION IN TIMES OF COVID-19
 ENVIRONMENTAL
RESILIENCE AND
TRANSFORMATION IN
TIMES OF COVID-19
CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS ON
ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTIONALITY

AL. Ramanathan
School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

Sabarathinam Chidambaram
Water Research Centre, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat, Kuwait

M.P. Jonathan
Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo (CIIEMAD),
Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), Ciudad de México (CDMX), México

M.V. Prasanna
Department of Applied Geology, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia,
CDT 250, Sarawak, Miri, Malaysia

Pankaj Kumar
Natural resources and Ecosystem Services, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Hayama, Japan

Francisco Muñoz Arriola

Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States;
School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE. United States
Elsevier
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 Contents

Contributors xi 3.1 Introduction 25

Preface xv 3.2 Impact on air and water quality 27
Acknowledgement xix 3.3 Natural regeneration of biodiversity 30
3.4 Migration of labor from other States 32
3.5 Conclusion 33
I References 33

Environmental modifications, 4. Changes in nighttime Lights during

degradation and human health risks COVID-19 lockdown over Delhi, India
ASMITA DEEP, PRASUN KUMAR GUPTA
1. COVID-19: a wake-up call to protect
4.1 Introduction 37
planetary health
4.2 Study area and data used 38
ASH PACHAURI, NORMA PATRICIA MUÑOZ SEVILLA, SHAILLY KEDIA,
4.3 Methodology 39
DRISHYA PATHAK, KOMAL MITTAL, PHILO MAGDALENE A
4.4 Results and discussion 40
1.1 Emerging infectious disease, COVID-19, and planetary 4.5 Conclusions and recommendations 46
health 3 Acknowledgements 47
1.2 Lockdown as a temporary respite for the environment 4 References 47
1.3 Pandemic reclaiming the plastic usage: demand,
production, and usage 5
5. Socio-environmental factors affecting mental
1.4 Waste management: the intensifying crisis 6 health of people during COVID-19 in coastal
1.5 Ocean pollution and landfills 7 urban areas of Bangladesh
1.6 Exacerbated inequalities and vulnerabilities 8 ROZINA AKTER, MUKTA AKTER, MD. TANVIR HOSSAIN,
1.7 Recommendations 9 MD. NASIF AHSAN
1.8 COVID-19 calls for reflection—conclusion 10
5.1 Introduction 49
References 12
5.2 Method 51
5.3 Results 52
2. Zoonotic disease in the face of rapidly changing
5.4 Conclusion 56
human–nature interactions in the Anthropocene Appendix 1 57
SHAMIK CHAKRABORTY, PANKAJ KUMAR, BINAYA KUMAR References 60
MISHRA
6. Mitigating transboundary risks by integrating
2.1 Introduction: why zoonotic diseases can be a concern
in the Anthropocene 17
risk reduction frameworks of health and DRR:
2.2 Resilience and its change due to biodiversity loss A perspective from COVID-19 pandemic
and diseases 18 SIVAPURAM V.R.K. PRABHAKAR, RAJEEV ISSAR, ARPAH BT.
ABU BAKAR, MARIKO YOKOO
2.3 The case of zoonotic diseases 19
2.4 Possible measures to fight next pandemics with 6.1 Introduction 63
concept of resilience 22 6.2 Impacts of transboundary disasters 64
2.5 Conclusion 22 6.3 Existing risk reduction frameworks and their gaps/
References 23 challenges 67
6.4 A comparison of responses to COVID-19 by India
3. Impact of Covid-19 lockdown on the and Japan 67
socioenvironmental scenario of Indian 6.5 Measures for strengthening risk reduction frameworks 70
Sundarban Acknowledgments 74
PUNARBASU CHAUDHURI, SUBARNA BHATTACHARYYA References 74
vi Contents

II 10. Addressing associated risks of COVID-19

infections across water and wastewater service
Water resources: Planning, chain in Asia
management and governance PHAM NGOC BAO, VU DUC CANH

7. An overview of Kuwait’s water resources 10.1 Introduction 103

and a proposed plan to prevent the spread 10.2 SARS-CoV-2 in feces and wastewater 104
of the Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) 10.3 Addressing potential risks associated with water
pandemic through Kuwait’s water supply and wastewater services 106
facilities and groundwater system 10.4 Regular virus surveillance in wastewater for
COVID-19 110
A. AKBER, A. MUKHOPADHYAY
10.5 Conclusions and recommendations 111
7.1 Prelude 79 References 111
7.2 Introduction 79
7.3 Sources of water 80 11. Governance of wastewater surveillance systems
7.4 Current status of water availability and to minimize the impact of COVID-19 and
consumption 81 future epidemics: Cases across Asia-Pacific
7.5 Possible spread of the Novel Corona Virus through T. TAKEDA, M. KITAJIMA, A. ABEYNAYAKA, N.T.T. HUONG,
water facilities 84 N.Q. DINH, K. SIRIKANCHANA, M. NAVIA, A.A. SAM, M.
7.6 Monitoring of water quality and collection of TSUDAKA, T. SETIADI, D.T. HUNG, E. HARAMOTO
water samples 85 11.1 State of COVID-19 in selected countries 116
7.7 Preservation, analysis, and treatment of water 11.2 Wastewater surveillance of COVID-19 117
samples 86 11.3 Wastewater management in selected countries 117
7.8 Concluding remarks 86 11.4 Stakeholders for wastewater monitoring 119
Acknowledgments 86 11.5 Legislation and frameworks 119
References 87 11.6 Challenges and opportunities 121
11.7 Recommendations 121
8. Survival of SARS-COV-2 in untreated
Acknowledgments 123
and treated wastewater—a review
References 123
BANAJARANI PANDA, SABARATHINAM CHIDAMBARAM,
ARINDAM MALAKAR
12. Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on real-time
8.1 Introduction 89 DO–BOD variation of river Ganga
8.2 SARS-COV-2 in treated and untreated wastewater 89 AJIT KUMAR VIDYARTHI, SUNITI PARASHAR, PRABHAT
8.3 Transmission through wastewater 91 RANJAN, A.L. RAMANATHAN
8.4 Impact 92
8.5 Future research needs to be carried out 93 12.1 Introduction 127
Acknowledgment 93 12.2 Impact of lockdown on main stem of river Ganga 128
Conflict of interest 93 12.3 Impact of lockdown on river Ganga tributaries 132
References 93 12.4 Conclusion 133
References 133
9. Wastewater discharge and surface water
contamination pre- and post- COVID 19— 13. Covid-19 and opportunity for integrated
global case studies management of water–energy–food resources
ALOK KUMAR THAKUR, A.L. RAMANATHAN, PROSUN
for urban consumption
BHATTACHARYA, MANISH KUMAR SHRESTH TAYAL, SWATI SINGH

9.1 Introduction 95 13.1 Introduction 135

9.2 Presence in aquatic environment 96 13.2 Methodology 136
9.3 Persistence and removal 97 13.3 Result and discussion 137
9.4 Wastewater-based epidemiology 98 13.4 Integrated mitigation measures 139
9.5 Case studies 99 13.5 Conclusion 140
9.6 Environmental implications and policies 100 References 140
9.7 Conclusion 100
References 101
 Contents vii

14. COVID-19 lockdown impacts on biochemical 17. A safe and effective sample collection method
and microbiological parameters in southern for assessment of SARS-CoV-2 in aerosol
Indian coast samples
HENCIYA SANTHASEELAN, VENGATESHWARAN THASU NAZIMA HABIBI, MONTAHA BEHBEHANI, SAIF UDDIN, FADILA
DINAKARAN, SANTHOSH GOKUL MURUGAIAH, AL-SALAMEEN, ANISHA SHAJAN, FARHANA ZAKIR
MUTHUKUMAR KRISHNAN, ARTHUR JAMES RATHINAM
17.1 Introduction 173
14.1 Introduction 143 17.2 Novel aerosol sampling method 174
14.2 Major coastal activities influenced by COVID-19 17.3. Trizol versus phosphate buffer solution as
pandemic 144 collection medium 174
14.3 COVID-19 lockdown impacts of biochemical and 17.4 Next generation-based applications 177
microbiological parameters on South Indian coasts 145 17.5 Conclusions 177
14.4 Effects of gas emissions with coastal water quality 147 References 177
14.5 Refusing on phytoplankton biomass and NO2
emissions 147 18. Meteorological parameters and COVID-19
14.6 Conclusion 148 spread-Russia a case study
References 149 SHANKAR K., GNANACHANDRASAMY G., MAHALAKSHMI M.,
DEVARAJ N., PRASANNA M.V., CHIDAMBARAM S.,

III THILAGAVATHI R.

18.1 Introduction 179

Air and water quality: Monitoring, fate,
18.2 Study area 180
transport, and drivers of socio- 18.3 Methodology 183
environmental change 18.4 Results and discussion 183
18.5 Conclusion 187
15. Air quality index and criteria pollutants in References 188
ambient atmosphere over selected sites:
Impact and lessons to learn from COVID 19 19. Short-Term resilience and transformation
SUSHIL KUMAR, SUDESH YADAV
of urban socioenvironmental systems to
COVID-19 lockdowns in India using air
15.1 Introduction 153 quality as proxy
15.2 Data source and data collection point 155 JAGRITI JAIN, FRANCISCO MUÑOZ ARRIOLA, DEEPAK KHARE
15.3 Results 157
15.4 Summary 161 19.1 Introduction 191
Acknowledgments 161 19.2 Area of study and its components 193
References 161 19.3 Conceptualization of NAMUSS resilience to
COVID-19 194
16. Study of the aerosol parameters and radiative 19.4 Methodology 197
forcing during COVID-19 pandemic over 19.5 Results and discussion 198
Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand 19.6 Conclusion 204
ALOK SAGAR GAUTAM, HARISH CHANDRA NAINWAL, Acknowledgements 204
R.S. NEGI, SANJEEV KUMAR, KARAN SINGH References 204

16.1 Introduction 163 20. Covid-19 Pandemic-changes in the context of

16.2 Site description and meteorology 164 global environment and lessons learned
16.3 Result and discussions 165 NEHA JAISWAL, S. JAYAKUMAR
16.4 Conclusions 170
Acknowledgments 170 20.1 Introduction 207
Abbreviation List 170 20.2 The pros and cons of Covid-19 worldwide 209
References 171 20.3 Lessons learned from the current crisis 217
viii Contents

20.4 Conclusion 218 23. Socio-economic and environmental impacts of

Abbreviations 219 COVID-19 pandemic: Building resilience of
References 219 the seven lakes of San Pablo city, Philippines
DAMASA B. MAGCALE-MACANDOG, CANESIO D. PREDO,

IV JOSEPH G. CAMPANG, JOHN VICENT R. PLETO, MA.

GRECHELLE LYN D. PEREZ, NETHANEL JIREH A. LARIDA,
Marine and lacustrine environment FATIMA A. NATUEL, SARENA GRACE L. QUIÑONES, YVES
CHRISTIAN L. CABILLON

21. Coral reefs: globally predicted climate change 23.1 Introduction 255
impact mitigation, mediated by the marine 23.2 COVID-19 cases in the Philippines 256
flora and their ecosystem connectivity, with a 23.3 COVID-19 cases in San Pablo city 257
case study from Neil Island (the Andamans) 23.4 Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the
SIVAKUMAR KANNAN, CHANDANI APPADOO, P. RAGAVAN, environment 257
BALAJI VEDHARAJAN, GOUTHAM BHARATHI, 23.5 Effects of the pandemic on society and economy 264
SIVAPERUMAN CHANDRAKASAN 23.6 Resilience 266
23.7 Summary and lessons learned 268
21.1 Introduction 225 Acknowledgement 269
21.2 Mangroves: A refuge for coral reefs in times of References 269
climate change 226
21.3 Seagrasses in enhancing reef resilience potential 228
21.4 Reefs–seaweeds interactions in the troubled ocean 229 V
21.5 Ecosystem connectivity between mangroves, Sustainable development goals
seagrasses and coral reefs 230
21.6 Coastal and marine faunal resources of the Neil
and environmental justice
Island (the Andamans) - A case study 231
24. Impacts and implications of the COVID-19
21.7 Fishes 236
21.8 Conclusions 236
crisis and its recovery for achieving
Acknowledgement 237 sustainable development goals in Asia: A
References 237 review from an SDG interlinkage perspective
XIN ZHOU, MUSTAFA MOINUDDIN
22. Temporal variability (1966–2020) of the fish
assemblage and hydrometeorology of the 24.1 Introduction 273
24.2 Methodology of the SDG interlinkage analysis 274
Tampamachoco Lagoon, Veracruz, Mexico:
24.3 Impacts of COVID-19 on SDGs 276
Pre-and during Covid-19 scenario 24.4 Implications of COVID-19 measures for achieving
GUADALUPE M. AUSTRIA-ORTÍZ, ALEJANDRA REYES- the SDGs: A review from an SDG interlinkage
MÁRQUEZ, EUGENIA LÓPEZ-LÓPEZ, SERGIO AGUÍÑIGA-
GARCÍAB, JUANA LÓPEZ-MARTÍNEZ
perspective 281
24.5 Discussion 285
22.1 Introduction 241 24.6 Conclusion 286
22.2 Study area 242 Acknowledgements 287
22.3 Methods 243 References 287
22.4 Results 245
22.5 Discussion 249 25. The COVID-19 impacts on India’s low
22.6 The COVID-19 pandemic scenario 251 carbon infrastructure
22.7 Conclusion 251 NANDAKUMAR JANARDHANAN, RITIKA MANDHYAN, ATUL
Abbreviations 252 RAWAT, ERI IKEDA
Acknowledgments 252 25.1 Introduction 289
References 252 25.2 Impact on renewable energy infrastructure 290
 Contents ix

25.3 Challenges to the deveopment of low carbon 28.6 The study of urban housing in Mexico during the
infrastructure and smart cities 291 COVID-19 pandemic 326
25.4 Responses towards the impact on low carbon 28.7 Characterization of the surveyed subjects living in
infrastructure: policy analysis 293 the urban dwellings studied 327
25.5 Conclusion 295 28.8 Characteristics of urban dwellings registered in the
References 295 survey 327
28.9 Problems in the urban areas of the metropolitan area
26. Green spaces resume their importance in of Mexico City during and post COVID-19
cities after the COVID-19 pandemic: A case pandemic 328
of study from Mexico City 28.10 Recommendations for the sustainable and resilient
MARÍA CONCEPCIÓN MARTÍNEZ RODRÍGUEZ, ANA LAURA design of the urban spaces studied 328
CERVANTES NÁJERA, MARTÍN VERA MARTÍNEZ 28.11 Housing problems in urban areas of the metropolitan
area of Mexico City studied 329
26.1 Introduction 299
28.12 Recommendations for urban dwellings in the
26.2 Cities as epicentres for the spread of the coronavirus 301
metropolitan area of Mexico City studied 331
26.3 Agenda 2030 and the sustainable development goals 303
28.13 Conclusions 331
26.4 Mexico City: A case study 304
References 332
26.5 Reflections 307
26.6 Conclusions 308 29. COVID-19 as an opportunity to make field-
Acknowledgement 308
based earth sciences and other similar courses
References 308
easily accessible and affordable
27. Climate change, adaptation and AAISYAH D., SAHARI S., SHAH A.A., QADIR A., PRASANNA
gender concerns: Approaches and learnings M.V., SHALABY R.

from global and Indian experiences 29.1 Introduction 333

VIJETA RATTANI, SOMYA BHATT, DEEPAK SINGH 29.2 Background 334
27.1 Introduction 311 29.3 Materials and methods 335
27.2 Gender differentiated impacts of climate change 312 29.4 Results and interpretations 337
27.3 The state of gender representation in global 29.5 Discussion 340
climate agenda 313 29.6 Conclusions 341
27.4 The global gender agenda 314 Acknowledgement 341
27.5 Adding a gender perspective to climate actions 315 References 341
27.6 Recognition of gender considerations in climate
actions in India 316 30. Livelihood and health vulnerabilities of forest
27.7 Approaches and learnings from India 317 resource-dependent communities amidst the
27.8 Results/outcomes 319 COVID-19 pandemic in southwestern regions
27.9 Key learnings and conclusion 320 of Bangladesh
References 321 TAPOSHI RABYA LIMA, MAHFUZA ZAMAN ELA, LUBABA KHAN,
TAUFIQ-E-AHMED SHOVO, MD. TANVIR HOSSAIN, NUSRAT
28. Urban housing in the metropolitan area of JAHAN, KHANDKAR-SIDDIKUR RAHMAN, MD. NASIF
AHSAN, MD. NAZRUL ISLAM
the Mexico City, in the context of climate
change and the COVID 19 pandemic 30.1 Introduction 343
JUAN MAYORGA, JOSÉ SOTO 30.2 COVID-19 pandemic situation and its impacts on
forest resource-dependent communities 344
28.1 Introduction 323
30.3 The Sundarbans forest of Bangladesh and the
28.2 Climate change in the world, origins of its study 323
resource-dependent communities 345
28.3 Climate change in Mexico in the 21st century 324
30.4 Materials and methods 346
28.4 Mexico’s urban areas in the 21st Century 325
30.5 Impact assessment of COVID-19 on the Sundarbans
28.5 COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico and the world 325
forest-dependent communities 348
x Contents

30.6 Coping strategies of the Sundarbans forest-dependent 32.6 Declaration of competing interest 381
communities in the pandemic situation 351 Acknowledgement 381
30.7 Conclusion and recommendations 352 Abbreviations 381
30.8 Appendix 353 References 382
References 354
33. Significance of conventional Indian food
31. Sustainable utilization of natural resources for acting as immune boosters to overcome
socio-environmental resilience and COVID-19
transformation in the mountains of Nepal MADHAVI LATHA KONE, DHANU RADHA SAMAYAMANTHULA
ARJUN GAUTAM, RAVI BHANDARI, BINAYA KUMAR MISHRA,
BASANTA BARAL 33.1 Introduction 385
33.2 Methodology 386
31.1 Natural resources and environment: background 357 33.3 Results and discussion 386
31.2 Local and indigenous practices 358 33.4 Conclusion 394
31.3 Policies, programs, and institutions 360 References 394
31.4 COVID-19 and changing scenario on mountain
economy 362 34. COVID-19 pandemic impact on food security
31.5 Resilience and transformation through sustainable and food system of India: Lessons for future
utilization 364 USHA MINA, RAM KUMAR
31.6 Summary 369
References 370 34.1 Introduction 397
34.2 COVID pandemic: Food security and food system
32. How resilient are mountain livelihoods of India 399
against extreme events? Learnings from 34.3 COVID pandemic impact on food system
Central Mexico in a COVID-19 world productive attribute of India 399
BARBARA KOVÁCS, JUAN CARLOS CAMPOS BENHUMEA 34.4 COVID pandemic and food security in India 403
34.5 COVID pandemic and future lessons 404
32.1 Introduction 373 34.6 Conclusion 405
32.2 Methods and material 374 Acknowledgements 406
32.3 Results and discussion 377 References 406
32.4 Conclusions 381
32.5 Credit author statement 381 Index 409
 Contributors
A.A. Sam Department of Social Studies, Faculty of Arts,
National University of Samoa, Lepapaigalagala, Toomatagi,
Samoa
A.A. Shah Department of Geosciences, Universiti Brunei
Darussalam, Brunei
AL. Ramanathan School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India
A. Abeynayaka Graduate School of Environment and
Information Studies, Tokyo City University, Yokohama
158-0087, Japan; Research and Development Division, Pirika
Inc./Pirika Association, Ebisu, Shibuya City, Tokyo 150-0013,
Japan
A. Akber Water Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scien-
tific Research, Kuwait
A. Mukhopadhyay Water Research Center, Kuwait Institute
for Scientific Research, Kuwait
A. Qadir Independent Researcher
Ajit Kumar Vidyarthi Central Pollution Control Board, New
Delhi, India
Alejandra Reyes-Márquez Instituto Politécnico Nacional,
Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Prol. del Carpio y
Plan de Ayala s/n Col. Santo Tomás, CDMX, México
Alok Kumar Thakur Discipline of Earth Science, Indian
Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382 355, India
Alok Sagar Gautam Department of Physics, HNB Garhwal
University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India
Ana Laura Cervantes Nájera Centro Interdisciplinario de
Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desar-
rollo (CIIEMAD) from Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN),
30 deJunio de 1520, La Laguna Ticomán, Gustavo A. Madero,
Mexico City
Anisha Shajan Biotechnology Program, Environment and Life
Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific
Research, Kuwait
Arindam Malakar Water Sciences Lab, University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Arjun Gautam School of Engineering, Pokhara University,
Nepal
Arpah bt. Abu Bakar Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah,
Malaysia
Arthur James Rathinam Department of Marine Science,
Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, India
Ash Pachauri POP (Protect Our Planet) Movement, 800 Third
Avenue, Suite 2800, New York, NY 10022, USA
Asmita Deep Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Dehradun, India;
Faculty of Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation
(ITC), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
Atul Rawat University of Petroleum and Energy Studies,
Derhadun, India
Balaji Vedharajan OMCAR Palk Bay Centre, East Coast Road,
Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu, India
Banajarani Panda Water Sciences Lab, University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Barbara Kovács Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y
Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo (CIIEMAD),
Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), Calle 30 de Junio de
1520 s/n, Barrio La Laguna Ticomán, Del. Gustavo A.
Madero, C.P., Ciudad de México (CDMX), Mexico
Basanta Baral DV Excellus Pvt. Ltd., Nepal
Binaya Kumar Mishra School of Engineering, Pokhara
University, Nepal
Canesio D. Predo Institute of Renewable Natural Resources,
University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna,
Philippines
Chandani Appadoo Department of Biosciences and Ocean
Studies, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius
D.T. Hung Laboratory Center, Hanoi University of Public
Health, 1A Duc Thang Road, Duc Thang Ward, North Tu
Liem District, Hanoi, Viet Nam
D. Aaisyah Department of Geosciences, Universiti Brunei
Darussalam, Brunei
Damasa B. Magcale-Macandog Institute of Biological
Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College,
Laguna, Philippines
Deepak Khare Department of Water Resources Development
and Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee,
India
Deepak Singh Department of Geography and Resource
Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha
Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR, China
Dhanu Radha Samayamanthula Water Research Center,
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Shuwaikh,
Kuwait
Drishya Pathak POP (Protect Our Planet) Movement, 800
Third Avenue, Suite 2800, New York, NY 10022, USA
E. Haramoto Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environ-
ment, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu,
Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
xii Contributors
Eri Ikeda Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India
Eugenia López-López Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Escuela
Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Prol. del Carpio y Plan de
Ayala s/n Col. Santo Tomás, CDMX, México
Fadila Al-Salameen Biotechnology Program, Environment
and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for
Scientific Research, Kuwait
Farhana Zakir Food and Nutrition Program, Environment and
Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific
Research, Kuwait
Fatima A. Natuel School of Environmental Science and
Management, University of the Philippines Los Baños,
College, Laguna, Philippines
Francisco Muñoz Arriola Department of Biological Systems
Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE,
United States; School of Natural Resources, University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE. United States
G. Gnanachandrasamy School of Geography and Planning,
Sun Yat -Sen University, Guangzhou, P.R. China; Center
for Earth, Environment and Resources, Sun Yat -Sen
University, Guangzhou, P.R. China
Goutham Bharathi Andaman & Nicobar Regional Centre,
Zoological Survey of India, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar
Islands, India
Guadalupe M. Austria-Ortíz Instituto Politécnico Nacional,
Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Prol. del Carpio y
Plan de Ayala s/n Col. Santo Tomás, CDMX, México
Harish Chandra Nainwal Department of Geology, HNB
Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand,
India
Henciya Santhaseelan Department of Marine Science,
Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, India
Jagriti Jain Department of Water Resources Development and
Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India
John Vicent R. Pleto Institute of Biological Sciences, Univer-
sity of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna,
Philippines
Joseph G. Campang Institute of Biological Sciences, Univer-
sity of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna,
Philippines
José Soto ESIA Tecamachalco Campus, Instituto Politécnico
Nacional (National Polytechnic Institute), Fuente de los
Leones avenue 28, Lomas de Tecamachalco, Estado de
México, México
Juana López-Martínez Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas
del Noroeste, Km. 1 Carretera a San Juan de La Costa “EL
COMITAN” La Paz, BCS, México
Juan Carlos Campos Benhumea Centro Interdisciplinario de
Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y
Desarrollo (CIIEMAD), Instituto Politécnico Nacional
(IPN), Calle 30 de Junio de 1520 s/n, Barrio La Laguna
Ticomán, Del. Gustavo A. Madero, C.P., Ciudad de México
(CDMX), Mexico
Juan Mayorga ESIA Tecamachalco Campus, Instituto Politéc-
nico Nacional (National Polytechnic Institute), Fuente de los
Leones avenue 28, Lomas de Tecamachalco, Estado de
México, México
K. Shankar Department of Applied Geology, School of
Applied Natural Science, Adama Science and Technology
University, Adama, Ethiopia
K. Sirikanchana Research Laboratory of Biotechnology,
Chulabhorn Research Institute, 54 Kampangpetch 6 Road
Laksi, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
Karan Singh Department of Physics, HNB Garhwal Univer-
sity, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India
Khandkar-Siddikur Rahman Solidaridad Network Asia,
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Komal Mittal POP (Protect Our Planet) Movement, 800 Third
Avenue, Suite 2800, New York, NY 10022, USA
Lubaba Khan Sociology Discipline, Social Science School,
Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh
M.V. Prasanna Department of Applied Geology, Faculty of
Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT
250, Sarawak, Miri, Malaysia
M. Kitajima Division of Environmental Engineering,
Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8 Kita-ku, Sapporo,
Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
M. Mahalakshmi School of Civil Engineering, SASTRA
Deemed University, Thanjavur, India
M. Navia Thunderstruck Resources Limited, Nadi Back Road,
Nadi, Fiji
M. Tsudaka Strategic Management Office, Institute for Global
Environmental Strategies, 2108-11 Kamiyamaguchi,
Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0115, Japan
Ma. Grechelle Lyn D. Perez School of Environmental Science
and Management, University of the Philippines Los Baños,
College, Laguna, Philippines
Madhavi Latha Kone Department of Gynecology, Kalyan
Hospital,Payakoropeta, Andhra Pradesh, India
Mahfuza Zaman Ela Sociology Discipline, Social Science
School, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh
Manish Kumar Discipline of Earth Science, Indian Institute of
Technology Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382 355, India
Mariko Yokoo Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
(IGES), Hayama, Japan
Martín Vera Martínez Universidad Autónoma de Baja
California. Tijuana, Universidad 14418, Parque Internacio-
nal Industrial Tijuana, Baja California, Tijuana, Mexico
María Concepción Martínez Rodríguez Centro Interdisciplin-
ario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y
Desarrollo (CIIEMAD) from Instituto Politécnico Nacional
(IPN), 30 deJunio de 1520, La Laguna Ticomán, Gustavo A.
Madero, Mexico City
Md. Nasif Ahsan Economics Discipline, Social Science School,
Khulna University 9208, Bangladesh
Md. Nasif Ahsan Economics Discipline, Social Science School,
Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh
Md. Nazrul Islam Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline,
Life Science School, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh
 Contributors
Md. Tanvir Hossain Sociology Discipline, Social Science
School, Khulna University 9208, Bangladesh
Md. Tanvir Hossain Sociology Discipline, Social Science
School, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh
Montaha Behbehani Environment Pollution and Climate
Change Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research
Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
Mukta Akter Economics Discipline, Social Science School,
Khulna University 9208, Bangladesh
Mustafa Moinuddin Institute for Global Environmental
Strategies (IGES), 2108-11Kamiyamaguchi, Hayama,
Kanagawa, Japan
Muthukumar Krishnan Department of Physics, National
Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli 620015, India
N.Q. Dinh Vietnam Institute of Geosciences and Mineral
Resources (VIGMR), 67 Chien-Thang-Str, Thanh Xuan,
100000 Hanoi, Viet Nam
N.T.T. Huong Faculty of Biotechnology, Chemistry and
Environmental Engineering, Phenikaa University, Hanoi
100000, Viet Nam; Phenikaa Research and Technology
Institute (PRATI), A&A Green Phoenix Group, 167 Hoang
Ngan, Hanoi 10000, Viet Nam
N. Devaraj Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai Univer-
sity, Annamalai Nagar, Tamilnadu, India
Nandakumar Janardhanan Institute for Global Environmen-
tal Strategies, Japan
Nazima Habibi Biotechnology Program, Environment and
Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for
Scientific Research, Kuwait
Neha Jaiswal Dept. of Ecology and Environmental Sciences,
School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry
Nethanel Jireh A. Larida Institute of Biological Sciences,
University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna,
Philippines
Norma Patricia Muñoz Sevilla Instituto Politécnico Nacional,
CIIEMAD, POP Movement, Calle 30 de Junio de 1520 s/n,
Colonia Barrio de la Laguna, Ticomán, CDMX 07340, Mexico
City, Mexico
Nusrat Jahan Sociology Discipline, Social Science School,
Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh
P. Ragavan Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India
Pankaj Kumar Natural resources and Ecosystem Services,
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Hayama, Japan
Pham Ngoc Bao Natural Resources and Ecosystem Services,
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Kanagawa,
Japan
Philo Magdalene A POP (Protect Our Planet) Movement, 800
Third Avenue, Suite 2800, New York, NY 10022, USA
Prabhat Ranjan Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi,
India
Prasun Kumar Gupta Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS),
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Dehradun, India
Prosun Bhattacharya Department of Sustainable Development,
Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute
of Technology, Teknikringen 10B, Stockholm SE-10044, Sweden
xiii
Punarbasu Chaudhuri Department of Environmental Science,
University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India
R.S. Negi Department of Rural Technology, HNB Garhwal
University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India
R. Shalaby Department of Geosciences, Universiti Brunei
Darussalam, Brunei
R. Thilagavathi Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai
University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamilnadu, India
Rajeev Issar UNDP, Bangkok, Thailand
Ram Kumar Directorate of Agriculture, New Secretariat,
Bihar, India
Ravi Bhandari Nepal Innovation Technology & Entrepreneur-
ship Center, Pokhara University, Nepal
Ritika Mandhyan Department of Urban Engineering,
University of Tokyo, Japan
Rozina Akter Economics Discipline, Social Science School,
Khulna University 9208, Bangladesh
Sabarathinam Chidambaram Water Research Centre, Kuwait
Institute for Scientific Research, Safat, Kuwait
S. Jayakumar Dept. of Ecology and Environmental Sciences,
School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University,
Puducherry
S. Sahari Department of Geosciences, Universiti Brunei
Darussalam, Brunei
Saif Uddin Environment Pollution and Climate Change
Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center,
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
Sanjeev Kumar Department of Physics, HNB Garhwal
University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India
Santhosh Gokul Murugaiah Department of Marine Science,
Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024, India
Sarena Grace L. Quiñones Institute of Biological Sciences,
University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna,
Philippines
Sergio Aguíñiga-Garcíab Instituto Politécnico Nacional,
Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Avenida
Politécnico Nacional s/n Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita,
Apartado Postal 592, La Paz, BCS, México
Shailly Kedia The Energy & Resources Institute, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Shamik Chakraborty Hosei University Tokyo, Japan
Shresth Tayal The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi,
India
Sivakumar Kannan CAS in Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine
Sciences, Annamalai University, TN, India
Sivaperuman Chandrakasan Andaman & Nicobar Regional
Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Port Blair, Andaman &
Nicobar Islands, India
Sivapuram V.R.K. Prabhakar Institute for Global Environ-
mental Strategies (IGES), Hayama, Japan
Somya Bhatt Environment, Climate Change and Natural
Resource Management Programme, Deutsche Gesellschaft
für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, New
Delhi, India
xiv
Subarna Bhattacharyya School of Environmental Studies,
Jadavpur University, Jadavpur, India
Sudesh Yadav School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India
Suniti Parashar Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi,
India
Sushil Kumar School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India
Swati Singh TERI School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi,
India
T. Setiadi Centre for Environmental Studies (PSLH), Institut
Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Sangkuriang 42 A, Bandung 40135,
Indonesia
T. Takeda Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The
University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo,
113-0033, Japan
Taposhi Rabya Lima Sociology Discipline, Social Science
School, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh
Contributors
Taufiq-E-Ahmed Shovo Sociology Discipline, Social Science
School, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh; School of
Humanities and Social Science, Faculty of Education and
Arts, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
Usha Mina School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Vengateshwaran Thasu Dinakaran Department of Marine
Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620024,
India
Vijeta Rattani Environment, Climate Change and Natural
Resource Management Programme, Deutsche Gesellschaft
für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, New
Delhi, India
Vu Duc Canh Department of Urban Engineering, the Univer-
sity of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Xin Zhou Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES),
2108-11Kamiyamaguchi, Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan
Yves Christian L. Cabillon Institute of Biological Sciences,
University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna,
Philippines
 Preface
The whole world has been on intermittent lockdowns
due to the present COVID-19 pandemic. The industrial
deacceleration caused by the pandemic has affected
everyone without distinction of wealth, religion, or
nationality. Also, the pandemic has evidenced how
socio-environmental processes have been altered or
accentuated, relieving the environment momentarily
from an almost chronic deterioration. Likewise, the
lockdown has affected the aquatic systems where direct
or indirect improvements in ecosystem services have
been observed. In the atmosphere, the presence and
dynamics of pollutants worldwide provide some
insights into the responsibility of the acceleration of the
human enterprise. The induced de-acceleration, evi-
denced in reduced human movement, industrial closure,
and tourists’ reduction, also affected water quality, fish
populations in lacustrine, marine, and lagoon environ-
ments. This pandemic has opened up new challenges
focusing on sustainable development goals in the global
economy and the way forward to achieve them on time.
The book presents five different themes, with thirty-
four chapters capturing the collective thinking on how
our environment change during the COVID-19 lock-
downs. The studies encompass short-term variations of
specific climatic factors that indicate a shred of unclear
evidence on climate change mitigation. Yet, the collec-
tive evidence represents the basis for assessing how a
sudden reduction in our industrialization can benefit
the environment.
As humankind suffers the most significant threat since
World War II, the COVID-19 has made us aware of our
individual and global interactions with the environment.
We have seen how socially and economically vulnerable
we are to COVID-19 by confining individuals and com-
munities to tackle the pandemic and using social net-
works and media to survive social distancing and
quarantine. We have seen how persistent inequality
makes chronically disadvantaged communities more
vulnerable to a virus that has attacked our bodies’ and
societal functionalities. Across the globe and within small
communities, the pandemic has evidenced educational,
technological, and social divides leading to uneven access
to safe jobs, affordable health care, and educational ser-
vices. The present book, “Environmental Resilience And
Transformation in Times of COVID-19,” integrates a collec-
tive of analyses and assessments on how COVID-19
lockdowns have influenced the socioenvironmental pro-
cesses amid climate change. Sevilla et al., provide a global
perspective of how our natural and built systems have
been altered with polarized ramifications. For example,
the short-term reclaims of flora and fauna for spaces and
the estimated long-term effect of plastic disposal due
to the increase in packaging and PPE use, both activated
by our incipient understanding and handling of the pan-
demic. Also, both situations evidence how social and
environmental drivers of our Earth-living support system
are interwoven. Chakraborty et al., propose that the
expansion of zoonotic diseases and weakened resilience
resides in increasing exposure to the natural environment
through our more invasive management of natural eco-
systems. Chaudhuri and Bhattacharyya illustrate how
this coupling increases the chances of the spreading of
new viruses to humans, integrating socioenvironmental
elements of human health attributions to environmental
shifts. As the pandemic evolves, the pandemic evidences
novel or unexpected expressions of interdependence
between the human-environment. Deep and Gupta use
night-time lights to identify the relationship between
energy consumption and human activity in Delhi, India.
Typical regimes shifted during the lockdown to decreased
energy consumption and an increase in night-time lights
due to workers’ temporal return to their hometowns.
Such socioenvironmental expressions in urban centers
are also expressed in human behavior, like those identi-
fied by Ahsan et al. They highlighted how human stress
and anxiety in Bangladesh’s coastal urban areas emerge.
The symptoms of stress and anxiety in populations of
developing countries triggered by agitation, scarcity,
trauma, infodemic, age, literacy level, and living condi-
tion can indicate a deterioration of socioenvironmental
systems’ resilience abilities. Changes in the functionali-
ties within a community and across boundaries can lead
to increased community risks because of the impacts of
health emergencies or natural disasters as mentioned by
Prabhakar et al.
Environmental (water and air) quality integrated the
social and environmental responses to the COVID-19
lockdowns.
To start, water quality in the book provides a glance
of methodologies to track COVID-19 and evaluate envi-
ronmental states during the lockdown phases. The
COVID-19 pandemic forced several nations to impose
xvi Preface
restrictions on all activities including industrial and
vehicular movements. It is expected to reduce the rate
of pollutants entering the ecosystem in many places.
Since water pollution remained a major concern over a
few decades before COVID, these studies analyze the
impact of lockdown on water quality to get an insight
into the short-term environmental changes. Akbar et al
highlight the spread of COVID through water facilities
and the GW system in Kuwait. It addresses sample col-
lection, preservation, and analysis and identifies the
migration pathways for possible treatment to remove
viruses in contaminated mediums. The SARS-CoV-2 sur-
vival in treated and untreated water generated by
infected humans. Panda et al, Manish et al, Bao and
Canh, and Takeda et al, recommends adopting 100%
removal treatment to stop its spread in high population
density areas to minimize the transmission of the lethal
virus. The fate of water and wastewater contamination
of COVID RNA in various countries was brought
forward here. It stresses the framework for epidemiol-
ogy management and proper surveillance of wastewater
to avoid fecal/ urinal shedding of infected individuals.
Effective monitoring in infected communities at an
early-stage through wastewater-based epidemiology,
together with clinical diagnostic testing or clinical sur-
veillance is poor, effective interventions, and prepared-
ness actions can be taken as early as possible to restrict
the movements of the infected population, as well as to
minimize the pathogen spread and threat to public
health. To get an insight into the existing challenges and
bottlenecks, a comparative study between eight coun-
tries across the Asia-Pacific was carried out in this
chapter. A better understanding of common issues, as
well as issues specific to each country, makes it is pos-
sible to build a robust multistakeholder system to
monitor SARS-CoV-2 as well as future pathogens in
wastewater as an effective disease surveillance system
for COVID-19 and unknown epidemics (disease X) in
the community level. Ranjan listed first-hand informa-
tion on the COVID lockdown period from the most
densely populated river in the world: Ganga. Main-
stream recorded much-improved water quality levels
with respect to DO and BOD at most locations during
the lockdown as a cumulative effect of rains and
decreased industrial & commercial activities. Tayal and
Singh, discussed the various aspects of the water-energy-
food (WEF) nexus in two cities in India under pre- and
post-COVID scenario for implementing integrated
measures to ensure optimization of WEF for sustainable
environmental benefits. James et al, brought out the
impact of waste-water input on coastal water quality
due to COVID lockdown, which was found to have a
considerable benefit on the coastal ecosystem in the Gulf
of Manner with a reduced concentration in heavy metals,
microplastics, NO3, and Chl-a indicating phytoplankton
biomass enhancement.
As the world came to a standstill there were multiple
changes in the atmospheric environment with reduc-
tions in major air pollutants, which were used in in
many places in multiple industrial and transportation
sectors. Air pollution reductions, ozone increases, and
manifold changes in the atmospheric conditions of major
cities around the world are some of the important vari-
ations around the globe. All these changes have not only
shown or modified due to the pandemia but the large
scale variations have also heavily affected the environ-
ment. Kumar and Yadav, provided an input on the
changes in air quality index and the pollutants in the
ambient atmosphere in New Delhi, India. The four phase
lockdown in New Delhi (from 25th March to 31st May,
2020) indicates reduction of CO, NOx, SO2, Pb, O3, and
PM2.5 was not on the same level to all pollutants. Aerosol
parameters were measured during the lockdown period
in Garhwal University of Srinagar, India. The higher
values of aerosols observed during the lockdown period
is mainly due to the transportation of aerosols and may
be due to the precipitation/ washout of aerosols (Gautam
et al). Habibi et al, demonstrated a safe way to collect
airborne samples of COVID-19 virus through high pre-
caution. The results suggest that samples collected with
TRIzol gave 90%-100% of the microbial load, which is
highly safe, meeting all the requirements of the virology
laboratory. Shankar et al, reported the importance of
studying the meteorological parameters and the COVID-
19 spread in Russia. Overall results collected from 31st
January to 31st August, 2020 indicate positive relations
with COVID cases and temperature rise and vice versa.
Moreover, identifying these changes will help the public
and policy makers in the near future. A short-term resil-
ience study was done in Mumbai, India during the lock-
down period to understand the changes in air quality
and its indices. The results indicate urban socioenviron-
mental systems with particular indices were identified
for environmental and social aspects which act as a
social drive of resilience (Jain et al). A global study was
done on the environmental changes and the lessons
learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter
focuses on the past climatic issues across the globe and
how the environment is capable of adapting and its
transformation during this period, where various lessons
are taught to protect our environment from the pan-
demic (Jaiswal and Jeyakumar).
The aquatic environment, characterized in the collec-
tive presented in this book, integrates three studies in a
land-to-ocean assessment of the impact of the COVID-19
lockdowns. Theme 4 focuses on the impact of the pan-
demic on the marine, lagoonal, and lacustrine environ-
ment. The Marine environment has served as the key for
the survival of corals, dependent biota, and plays a
 Preface
significant role in the food chain. The lagoonal environ-
ment has been a sink for many contaminants and
attempts to filter the anthropogenic stress reaching the
marine ecosystem. The freshwater ecosystem in the
recent days are affected by tourism, inland sewage,
industrial waste, etc., affecting the biota. The observa-
tions made by Sivakumar et al have also revealed that
the marine flora and the reef ecosystem had a significant
impact during this pandemic period. The chapter also
highlights that the mangrove habitats can act as alternate
refuges for corals during climate threats, particularly
increasing seawater temperature, high levels of solar
radiation, and ocean acidification. Guadalupe et al, have
also recorded that the COVID-19 has registered an incip-
ient evidence of trophic recovery in the Tampamachoco
lagoonal environment. It is emphasized that the inter-
connectivity of the marine ecosystems should be consid-
ered for deriving the management policies to protect the
ecological health of these coastal habitats. The fresh
water bodies, such as lakes and lagoons, have also suf-
fered socioeconomic and environmental impacts.
Damasa et al has identified the improvement in water
quality and increase in fish population after the lock-
down period. This study has provided a sign of positive
development in the environmental condition due to the
Bayanihan Acts of Philippine government to fight
COVID-19. The change observed was mainly due to
reduction in the tourist and anthropogenic activities.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and environ-
mental justice in the book highlights the slow progress
for achieving different global goals especially those in
the world’s developing economies and what are the
additional challenges and opportunities imposed by
COVID-19 pandemic to achieve them in a timely manner.
Finally, it discusses the way forward for recovery, the
need to redesign our system-oriented policies to be more
inclusive with constricted interventions in order to
achieve mutually agreed global goals like Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), Aichi Target, Sendai Frame-
work for Disaster Management, etc., a necessary ingredi-
ent for achieving sustainable development, economic
growth, and human well-being in timely manner. The
area of thrust of all eleven chapters within this theme
ranges from sectors like energy, natural resources, and
food security. They all echoed for the need to codesign
and coimplement the environmental adaptation and
mitigation strategies to preserve our natural resources,
boost the immune system and make our system more
xvii
robust in nature to absorb sudden additional shocks
likes COVID-19 pandemics along with rapid global
changes and uncertain extreme weather conditions.
Zhou and Moinuddin, highlighted that due to the intrin-
sic interactions among the SDGs, an interlinkage per-
spective is very important to grasp a wider picture of
COVID-19 impact and inform about the synergies and
trade-offs of the COVID-19 measures in order to achieve
SDGs by year 2030. They have proposed SDG interlink-
age analysis for identifying the impacts of COVID-19
and its recovery and then applied for an empirical study
for two Asian countries, Bangladesh and the Republic of
Korea. Janardhanan et al, discuss creating or promoting
decarbonized and decentralized society with both eco-
nomic and social benefits for India’s low carbon infra-
structure. Rodriguez et al, looks into lessons learned
through these cascade effects of COVID-19 pandemic,
and promotes greener economies for enhancing system
resilience and adaptive capacity. Rattani et al, presents
how COVID-19 brought additional and disproportional
challenges for women and girls, the weaker section of
society in different parts of India. It also presents differ-
ent approaches for analyzing gender specific differenti-
ated risk assessment and finally highlights the importance
of state of art of gender consideration in national policies
as a sustainable solution. Cervantes and Ruíz, and Shah,
have presented recommendations that can serve in the
development of methods for the diagnosis of existing
urban houses and newly created dwelling and thereby
make them sustainable and resilient. Three different
chapters (Hossain et al, Bhandari et al, and Kovacs and
Benhumea) highlight unseen problems and challenges
COVID-19 brought to the people or communities
dependent on natural resources, such as mountains and
forests for their livelihood. They also discussed how
community resilience in these vulnerable areas can be
built through the reduction of consumption, diversifica-
tion of income sources, and claiming support from the
government. Two chapters (Samayamanthula and Latha,
Mina and Kumar) have discussed various challenges
different countries are facing to achieve food security as
a most pressing issue in the time of this uncertain pan-
demic. They highlighted the importance of immunity
and how to build up an immune system to fight against
any viral infections especially COVID-19 by adopting
conventional foods habits. It also stressed the resilient
food system-based policy interventions needs to be
implemented by policy makers.
 Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all the contributing authors who,
during the pandemic, provided scientific narratives on
diverse themesand critical findings and shared their
knowledge on our environment.
We appreciate the two external reviewers for each
chapter around the globe who contributed improving
the quality of the book. We would like to thank the
special work of the Elsevier publishing teams and espe-
cially Editorial Project Leader Ms. Leticia Lima.
We sincerely thank all six institutions from different
countries: 1) School of Environmental Sciences, Jawahar-
lal Nehru University, New Delhi, India; 2) Water Research
Centre, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait;
3) Center for Interdisciplinary Studies on Environment
and Development (Centro Interdisciplinario de Investiga-
ciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo),
National Polytechnic Institute (Instituto Politécnico
Nacional), Mexico City, Mexico; 4) Faculty of Engineering
and Science, Department of Applied Geology, Curtin Uni-
versity Malaysia, Malaysia; 5) Natural Resources and Eco-
system Services, Institute for Global Environmental
Strategies (IGES), Japan; and 6) Department of Biological
Systems Engineering, School of Natural Resources,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA.
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 TOYING WITH FATE;
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Nick Carter’s Narrow Shave

BY
NICHOLAS CARTER

Author of the celebrated stories of Nick Carter’s adventures,

which
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conceded
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NEW YORK
STREET & SMITH, Publishers
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 Copyright, 1903
By STREET & SMITH

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Library.
The Dumas stories in the Select Library.

BOOKS FOR WOMEN.

The Mrs. Georgie Sheldon stories in the New Eagle
Series.
The Charles Garvice stories in the New Eagle Series.
The Bertha Clay stories in the Bertha Clay Library.
The Southworth stories in the Southworth Library.
The Mrs. Mary J. Holmes stories in the Eagle and Select
Libraries.

BOOKS FOR BOYS.

The Burt L. Standish stories in the New Medal Library.
The Horatio Alger stories in the Medal and New Medal
Libraries.
The Oliver Optic stories in the Medal and New Medal
Libraries.
The Edward C. Taylor stories in the New Medal Library.
Send for our complete catalogue and look these stories
up. It will pay you.

STREET & SMITH, Publishers, NEW YORK

 Why Take
a Chance?

Most everybody thinks that the public library is a mighty

fine institution—teaches people to read, and all that. Well,
so it does, but does any one ever think of the great risk
that a person, who takes a book out of a public library,
runs of catching some contagious disease?
Every time a bacteriological examination is made of the
public-library book, germs of every known disease are
found among its pages. Probably, from your own
experience, you know that lots of people never think of
taking a book from the public library, until some one in
their family is sick and wants something to read.
As records prove that ninety per cent of the demand for
books at the public libraries is for works of fiction, it strikes
us that the reading public would do better to patronize the
S. & S. novel list which contains hundreds of books to be
found in the public libraries, and many hundreds of others
just as good and interesting.
The price of the S. & S. novels is a low one indeed to pay
for protection from disease-laden literature. Why run the
risk, then, when you can get a fresh, clean book for little
money and thus insure your health?

STREET & SMITH, Publishers

NEW YORK
TOYING WITH FATE.
 CHAPTER I.
THE MYSTERIOUS OLD MAN.

“Move on, old man, and go home!”

It was the stern voice of one of New York’s finest policemen that
uttered these words.
“Home! I wonder where it is?” muttered the old man to whom the
policeman had spoken, and a shudder ran through his frame, as he
slowly moved down the street.
As he reached the corner near old St. John’s Church, on Varick
Street, he paused, rubbed his eyes and gazed dreamily around him.
For some time before the policeman had addressed him he had
been standing inside the church, looking through the railings into the
churchyard.
His form was bent by decrepitude and sorrow, and his hair was as
white as the flaky snow that clung to the steeple of the old church,
the bells of which had just sounded the knell of the dying year.
The old man only halted on the corner for a minute, and then,
crossing Beach Street, he shuffled along until he reached the center
of the block, where he came to a standstill in front of an old-
fashioned house, which was unoccupied.
Then, as if a faintness had come over him, he grasped the rusty iron
railing to prevent himself falling to the ground, and he closed his
eyes, as though the sight of the snow-covered houses was too much
for him.
The policeman had followed him at a distance, and was watching
him from where he was standing on the corner.
“Poor devil!” muttered the guardian of the peace, as he swung his
nightstick back and forth. “I wonder who he is! He seems weak!
Perhaps at one time he amounted to something. God save me from
ever coming to his condition. I wonder why he stands so long in front
of that old empty house, which has been closed for twenty years, to
my knowledge! I’ll watch him a while, but I won’t molest him, poor
devil!”
As the policeman concluded his soliloquy the old man straightened
up and walked up to the door of the house, the old knocker on which
he caught hold of and gave it a rap.
But suddenly, as if struck by some painful recollection, his hand fell
to his side and he staggered back to the middle of the sidewalk.
“Strange,” the policeman ejaculated, noting this action. “Perhaps he
lived there at one time.”
The old man looked up at the house, at which he gazed long and
intently.
Then, suddenly arousing himself, he ambled back to the corner,
stopping near the policeman. He looked confusedly around him, from
the left to the right, and the policeman gazed at him closely, but
spoke not a word. On his part, he did not seem to see the man in
uniform. He stood bewildered, appearing not to know which way to
turn.
“Why don’t you go home, old man?” the policeman asked, this time
in a softened tone of voice.
“Home!” the old fellow ejaculated—his voice was like a wail, a
heartbroken sob. “Home! where is it?”
“The Lord bless you, man, how can I tell you, if you can’t tell
yourself?”
“Twenty years ago—twenty years behind darkened walls—and this
——” He muttered the words in such a forlorn tone that the
policeman stared at him.
“Your brain is turned, old gentleman.”
The old man laughed and looked up into his questioner’s face with a
quizzical expression.
“My brain is clear, my friend,” he replied, in a clear, harsh tone. “I
have come from a prison—the world is strangely altered since I was
in it before.”
“In it before? Why, what do you mean? I suppose you will try and
persuade me that you have been dead and have risen from the
grave.”
“Figuratively speaking, I have—I have been dead to the world—in
prison at Sing Sing. Mark me well—Sing Sing Prison—for twenty
years—to-day I was released. See me now. I am old, decrepit, hardly
able to walk. Once I stood erect, my hair was as black as the raven’s
wing, and now—look at me, a wreck without home or friends. Wife,
children, all gone! I have never seen nor heard of them since the day
I was taken out of yonder house a prisoner, by the unjust, hard, and
cruel decree of a so-called court of justice. Twenty years! A prisoner,
buried alive, as it were.”
“You had committed a crime?”
“No. I was innocent, but powerful conspirators plotted against me—
the evidence was perjured—and I—I—was entombed.”
“You say you lived in yonder house twenty years ago?”
“Yes, and no man carried his head higher than I did. I was rich—but
bah! what is the use of rehearsing those things to a stranger!
Hardened as you are by association with crime, you would not
believe my story. You would think that I was romancing. Things have
sadly changed in this neighborhood.”
“You may bet they have.”
“Once all these houses were occupied by rich people, but to-day
they are the abodes of the poor and the outcast.”
“What is your name?”
“My name! It matters not. Good night.”
“Well, well, keep your secret, old man. God bless you, and may this
new year bring you happiness.”
“Happiness! I shall never know that again. Good night, again.”
He moved off slowly, and the policeman watched him until he turned
the corner into West Broadway, when he proceeded to patrol his
beat.
As the policeman moved away, a dark form came out of a near-by
doorway and hurried around the corner.
The man was tall, he wore a long ulster with the collar turned up
around his neck, and a slouch hat was pulled down over his eyes.
He followed closely in the old man’s trail.
The old man halted several times, and as he did so his form seemed
to lose its decrepitude. As the light from the street lamps shone upon
his face it could be seen that his eyes glared like two living coals; he
threw his hand aloft, and so fierce and startling was the action that
the man who was following him halted and shrank back for an
instant, as if he had been struck.
“Vengeance!” the old man hissed, and then he started on again.
The street was deserted, save by the old man and the man who was
following him.
The former walked on, looking up at the tall warehouses and store
buildings, muttering to himself.
More than once he put his hand up to his head and gazed about in a
bewildered manner.
His limbs shook under him, for a long time had passed since they
had been used to such exertion.
The fresh air came so strangely upon him that he panted for breath.
Suddenly he halted in front of an old-fashioned three-story brick
building near Chambers Street. A beacon-shaped red lamp was
burning over the doorway, and upon the front pane of glass was
painted:
THE RED DRAGON INN.
Established by William Sill—1776.
It was an old landmark in the neighborhood, and it had always been
a hostelry. In revolutionary times it was a post roadhouse, and was
famous as the headquarters of many of the British officers. During
later days it became the resort, at the noonday hour, of many of New
York’s most staid and solid merchants, whose places of business
were in the vicinity.
At this time the ground floor was occupied by a man who ran a
saloon and restaurant, and who rented out the upstairs rooms to
transient lodgers. No improvements had been made about the place,
and it stood just as it did when it was conducted by its original owner.
As the old man paused in front of the inn the sound of voices and the
clinking of glasses came from within. He walked up to the door and
opened it. Then he stepped into the saloon, staggered up to the bar
and, in a low tone, ordered a glass of toddy, which was supplied to
him.
A number of men were seated at the tables, drinking, and none of
them paid any attention to the newcomer, who drank his toddy while
standing and leaning against the bar.
The old man placed his empty glass back upon the counter, and
facing the bartender, said:
“I want a room for the night.”
“There is only one empty,” the bartender replied. “It is in the attic.”
“That will answer my purpose.”
“It will cost you one dollar.”
The old man drew a purse out of his pocket, took out the amount,
and handed it to the bartender, who asked:
“Do you want to retire now?”
“I do,” the old man answered.
“I will show you the way up.”
“It won’t be necessary. I am familiar with every room in the house.
Many a time I have stopped here in other days. If you will tell me
which room I am to occupy, I will go up to it.”
“The second room in the back part of the attic on the left of the
stairway is the one. You will find a lamp on a table in the hall on the
second floor.”
“All right.”
The old man left the room, while the bartender gazed after him with
curiosity. He climbed the stairway and reached the second floor,
where he found the lamp, and then proceeded upstairs to the attic
room.
An hour after he retired, the house was silent, all the midnight
revelers having gone home, and the bartender having closed up the
saloon.
New Year’s Day dawned bright and clear.
The proprietor of the Red Dragon Inn opened the barroom, and at
nine o’clock the bartender came downstairs.
For a time the two men stood talking.
There were no customers in the place.
At last the bartender asked the proprietor if he had seen anything of
the strange old man who had come in after midnight.
The proprietor said that the old man had not appeared.
“Did he request you to call him?” he inquired.
“No,” the bartender answered. “Shall I go up and ask him if he wants
breakfast?”
“Yes.”
The bartender ascended to the attic.
The door of the room which the old man had been assigned to stood
ajar.
The man knocked, but there was no answer. He pounded again and
shouted. Still no answer. Finally the man pushed the door open. A
terrible sight met his gaze. Stretched out upon the bed he beheld the
old man, with his throat cut from ear to ear. His hands were folded
across his breast, and he was covered by the coverlet of the bed.
Evidently there had been no struggle.
The bartender uttered a cry of alarm, but he did not enter the room.
As soon as he recovered from his surprise he dashed off downstairs,
crying “Murder!” at the top of his voice.
Instantly the house was aroused, and in a short time a great crowd
congregated in the street in front of the door.
 CHAPTER II.
SEARCHING FOR CLEWS.

Early on New Year’s morning Nicholas Carter, the famous detective,

arrived in Jersey City on a train from Chicago, where he had been
investigating a diamond case, which he had closed up successfully.
Danny, his chauffeur, met him at the station, with his powerful touring
car; and in a few minutes they were crossing the Hudson River on
the downtown ferry over to Chambers Street.
They had just landed and were beginning to get headway along that
thoroughfare, when their attention was attracted by a loud
commotion in the street.
Leaning over, Carter beheld the crowd congregating in front of the
Red Dragon Inn, which was almost opposite. He heard the cries of
murder.
Instantly the veteran’s energies were aroused. He forgot all about his
not having had breakfast, and springing out, he pushed his way
through the crowd and entered the barroom of the Red Dragon Inn.
There he found the proprietor pacing up and down in a state of
nervous excitement.
A policeman was also there, and to him Nick applied for information.
“I can’t make head nor tail of it,” the policeman replied to Carter’s
inquiry. “I’ve sent word to the police station, Mr. Carter, and I am
expecting the captain every minute.”
“Have you been upstairs?”
“No, sir. I thought it best to wait until the captain arrived.”
“Where is the bartender?”
“Standing over there,” and the policeman pointed to the man, who
was leaning against the bar.
Carter stepped up to the bartender and asked:
“What is your name?”
“George Terry,” the bartender answered.
“How long have you been employed here?”
“Three years.”
“I believe you discovered the murder?”
“I did, sir.”
“At what time?”
“About twenty minutes ago.”
“Do you know the man?”
“No, sir, he is a stranger to me.”
“What is his name?”
“I forgot to ask him.”
“Don’t you keep a register?”
“No, sir.”
“What time did the man arrive?”
“Shortly after midnight.”
“Did he have any luggage?”
“No, sir.”
“Tell me all about your conversation with him.”
“As I said, he came in here shortly after midnight. He seemed weak
and exhausted as he slipped up to the bar. He requested me to
make him a hot toddy, which I did.
“After he had finished his drink he asked me if I could let him have a
room for the night, and I told him that the attic room was vacant and