COVID and Climate Change
In the past five months, the coronavirus has greatly changed the way the world operates. There have been huge impacts on life as we know it, both good and bad. The economy is suffering, but what about climate? Greenhouse gas emissions have gone down considerably with the reduced travel around the globe, and pollution in some major cities like New York has gone down by almost 50% according to a recent article from BBC news. As we continue with safety procedures while we ride out this pandemic, how will that impact the healing of our climate? Will we be able to get climate change mitigation under control? Will we be able to save more endangered species because they are just having so little contact with humans? At Studland Bay, Dorset (UK), an endangered seahorse has made a comeback due to the fact that the ecosystem has had time to recover and vegetation has increased. What lasting impacts will we see as society continues to deal with the pandemic, and how much healing can our ecosystems do before we inevitably turn right back around to business as usual? Do we have the capacity for lasting change when it comes to climate change mitigation? Can our climate behaviors improve in the long run? I hope so. It has been amazing to see how resilient nature is with the lack of human interactions in the past few months, but the question I can’t help but ask myself is how resilient will humans be in making lifestyle changes that will help us along with our planet?
*Photo credit to SkyNews*