What can we learn from COVID-19
The world works in mysterious ways. Despite the pain, suffering, and uncertainty that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the world, this period of social distancing has had its share of silver linings. Wildlife has ventured out in areas formerly too bustling with humanity for its comfort. Los Angeles and Beijing have seen dramatic reductions in smog. While these earth-friendly effects may be temporary, they nonetheless exemplify what can happen when humans step back and take stock of our daily routines and consumption patterns.
One undeniable effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the short-term reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Satellite data from ESA and NASA show a dramatic decrease in airborne nitrogen dioxide emissions and fine particulate matter in China, resulting from the shuttering of industrial facilities. This reduction began in China in early February, and has emerged in other urban areas around the globe, particularly as cities and regions experiencing the most intense COVID-19 outbreaks call for social distancing. Stay-at-home orders have limited unnecessary travel, thereby cutting back on transportation emissions that also contain nitrogen dioxide.
Of course, some experts warn that these short-term effects are only temporary, especially considering air emissions and pollution have already bounced back since lockdowns have been lifted in China. Others assert that long-term meaningful change cannot result from simple inaction. In the United States, the picture is a little more complicated. The COVID-19 pandemic has not been a period of complete inaction, but rather a flurry of decisions, some that stem from panic, and some that appear more calculated.
Medical providers on the frontlines of the pandemic are short on supply of personal protective equipment, while people at the grocery store wear and dispose of N95 face masks and surgical gloves improperly. People are opting for single-use plastics for fear that COVID-19 can survive on surfaces for long periods of time. Politicians are capitalizing on this fear to roll back plastic bag bans in cities across the United States.
People are also reducing their use of public transportation and are opting for grocery and food delivery, resulting in lessened reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. The EPA is allowing companies to self-regulate in certain areas indefinitely, and Trump has proposed several cuts to regulations that protect human health and the environment during this time.
Still, the pandemic has shown us that we can cut down on our harmful impacts on the environment if we choose to. Governments around the globe have taken swift and comprehensive action. Technology has shifted the way that Americans are able to work, and perhaps long commutes and airline travel will remain low even after the pandemic passes. Airlines and other corporations that seek bailouts could be required to make environmentally responsible changes now to receive taxpayer funds.
COVID-19 will continue to influence our policy decisions and guide our actions in the foreseeable future, but we must remain mindful of the lessons it has taught us after its course is completed. One of those lasting lessons is to maintain the collective consciousness that we have gained as a result of COVID-19, and to apply it to other global health crises, like climate change. Just as it takes a community to effectively respond to the threat of COVID-19, it will take a community effort to effectively combat climate change. This video highlights some of the differences that exist between the global response to COVID-19 and climate change and some steps that we can take going forward. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8YiQy3Vo9Q“
