Here's an unexpected side effect of the pandemic - the water's flowing through the canals of Venice is clear for the first time in forever. The fish are visible, the swans returned. pic.twitter.com/2egMGhJs7f
— Kaveri 🇮🇳 (@ikaveri) March 16, 2020
As a result of the stay-at-home order, humans across the globe have been trapped inside for weeks. The significant decline in day-to-day activity has offered one interesting side effect: satellites orbiting the world have noted a remarkable drop in air pollution.
Fewer cars on the road and factories still in operation mean that, for the first time in recent history, the Earth has been offered a break from CO2 emissions. As people are naturally disposed to do, photos of the "clean" environment have been circulating around with the tagline, "We are the virus."
However, fact-checkers were able to bust the myth, proving that most of these reports were indeed fabricated. Fortunately, despite the circumstances, people were able to turn their disappointment into a brand new meme.
The meme began with a tweet from Ronnie Becker, a Minneapolis design student.
with everyone on lockdown, the lime scooters are finally returning to the river. nature is healing, we are the virus. pic.twitter.com/I0IbCfiMnj
— ronnie mcdonnie (@taladorei) March 26, 2020
"There were tons of posts about the Venetian canals clearing up and the dolphins returning to Italy/various animals returning to typically urban areas and was annoyed by the eco-fascist statements of 'we are the virus,'" Becker said. "I just thought of something that clearly does not belong in nature and as someone who hates the scooter share business I thought the Lime scooters in the river was perfect."
Becker's tweet gave rise to a slew of hilarious "we are the virus" memes. Even if nature isn't healing, at least we got this out of the deal.
the yodel boys are returning to their natural habitat. nature is healing, we are the virus pic.twitter.com/JX1xyBBigz
— ben wasserman (@benwassertweet) April 6, 2020
Wildlife is finally returning, Nature is healing, we are the Virus pic.twitter.com/IzB7sV90IL
— FT (@Cantbanme911) April 1, 2020
With everyone on lockdown nature is getting a chance to recover. The wildlife is finally returning to its natural habitat. Just look at Inverness, Scotland. The Earth is healing. We are the virus. pic.twitter.com/Wpulmo7DTw
— Conor (@lilpiri) March 31, 2020