While many may look at current news of animals roaming freely and a decline in emissions as a positive for the environment, this false sense of hope is far from the consistent results which must take place. For instance, those stories of coyotes on the Golden Gate Bridge or deer grazing near the White House are small recoveries of nature only happening “because there is so little of it in the first place” (Watts, 2020). However, these new signs of life are a remarkable indication of how harshly nature is impacted by humans and the necessary measures we must take to preserve natural beauty. 

Another hugely relevant impact of Covid-19 on the environment is one we have probably all heard about many times in the past weeks. Carbon and fossil fuel emission maps from places all over the world have become widely popular showing declines in pollution resulting from stagnant economies. In China, the world’s largest carbon emitter, “emissions were down about 18%” in just the first month of the pandemic (Watts, 2020). Similar declines in pollution have been seen across the world with road traffic in the UK falling by more than 70% and 40% in the US. In fact, the lockdowns caused by coronavirus have led to the “first fall in global emissions since the 2008-9 financial crisis” (Watts, 2020).

While these short-term decreases in emissions may seem like a positive, it is important to look at what follows. For example, in 2010 after the financial crash, emissions “quickly rebounded… leading to an all-time high” (Henriques, 2020). A recovering Wuhan, China is showing similar results as air pollution has increased steadily since March when lockdown measures started to be lifted. Both indicate that without a political push for more sustainable practices, the world will fall back into its polluting ways with increasing destruction. As Barack Obama’s chief of staff said about the policies coming out of the Great Recession, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste”(Worland, 2020). In times of change, interventions are most successful and effective because the ball is already rolling in terms of repairing and rebuilding. While the world is already out of balance, it is much easier to change unsustainable habits for when things return to normalcy. The role of green energy and practices in the federal stimulus plans to come will determine much of the global climate’s fate.

With the money currently being poured into the US economy, the government could be making substantial investments into “renewable projects [that] would put people to work in the short term and, in the long term, create decarbonized energy systems” (Worland, 2020). Instead, the US federal government has resorted to bailing out oil companies due to the slumping oil prices. These decisions are actually against the country’s best interest in many aspects, because due to current circumstances, “wind turbines and solar panels now produce electricity more cheaply than natural gas and coal” (Penn, 2020). In fact, establishing wind and solar farms has become a very attractive option for developing areas because they can be built much faster than coal or nuclear plants. By integrating green jobs into the global repair of economies, both governments and the environment will benefit. An abundance of new jobs will be created from renewable energy and emissions will also decrease. 

Moving forward in these crucial times, it is imperative that governments do not ignore the ever present danger of climate change and humans’ neglect of the natural world. We must not turn short-term improvements into silver-linings, but make them the example of what could be reality if sufficient change occurs. The extent to which the world sustainably rebuilds will determine the history and fate of the planet, because it is not the circumstances we face, but how we react which defines us.

References

Henriques, M. (2020, March 27). Will Covid-19 have a lasting impact on the environment? Retrieved May 2, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200326-covid-19-the-impact-of-coronavirus-on-the-environment

Penn, I. (2020, April 7). Oil Companies Are Collapsing, but Wind and Solar Energy Keep Growing. Retrieved May 2, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/business/energy-environment/coronavirus-oil-wind-solar-energy.html

Watts, J. (2020, April 9). Climate crisis: in coronavirus lockdown, nature bounces back – but for how long? Retrieved May 2, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/climate-crisis-amid-coronavirus-lockdown-nature-bounces-back-but-for-how-long

Worland, J. (2020, March 24). Coronavirus Could Create Opportunities to Green the Economy. Retrieved May 2, 2020, from https://time.com/5808581/coronavirus-green-stimulus/

-Caldonia Carmello