Corona & Climate Change by Gabby Ellrott

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There are going to be a few parts to this post. First, I just want to start off by saying that this pandemic is a war and a tragedy. Hospitals are filled to the brim with people, hundreds are dying all over the world, unemployment numbers are through the roof. Everyone who's working in the medical field is risking their own lives along with their family's to help others. It's just a time of crisis that we all have to stay strong about and be a community.

With all that being said, I'm sure you've heard about the positive effects COVID-19 has had on our climate crisis. We're going to dive into that.

What's a bit scary, is that this is a very sensitive time. Meaning that a lot of the things we do now, will greatly impact our future. Possibly even thousands of years from now. But as I'm sure you've noticed. Our lives are changing, and that includes are way of living. Since majority of us are quarantined in our homes, travel is very limited right now. Even if you wanted to go drive somewhere, travel bans have been set in place. Outcomes of this have been crazy, and a good crazy. In China, there's been a 25% drop in emissions which was the effect of putting a pause on industrial manufacturing. They've also seen blue skies again, after cutting coal consumption.

Here we see only the short term effects corona will have on climate change. It's all great and seems to be getting better now, but what about the long term?

If we want to sustain these big changes that could lead to solving the climate crisis, there are several other steps that have to be taken to maintain it. What scares me the most, is that after this mess is over, we're going to jump back to normal life too soon, and what's going to happen then? We're all going to get sick because we haven't been exposed to anyone but our families in months, and industry is going to be up and running again. That will bring us right back to square one, right where we left off, but potentially a lot worse.

The things that can be done to take steps to save the planet start with decarbonizing the economy. The global economy actually. Decarbonizing is a low fossil fuel economy that lead to more jobs and economic growth. For now, carbon emissions are down, but once the world starts back up again...that's the world's chance to take big steps that will lead to our success.




Comments

  1. DanielleApril 1, 2020 at 9:33 AM

    I think we can all learn a lot from this about the changes that need to be made in our daily lives .

    ReplyDelete

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