With so much of the world coming to a standstill, it is easy to assume that one silver lining of the Coronavirus is a reduction in the carbon dioxide emissions contributing to our climate crisis. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Here is why this emergency situation does not mean we can ignore the damage we are doing to our planet.
The Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has changed the way we interact, work, and go about our daily lives. Because of the incubation period of the disease, and advice to self-isolate for two weeks if we show symptoms, travel and traffic overall, worldwide, has dramatically reduced. With less pollution from our daily commutes, we have seen a drop in emissions. But this is only temporary. The moment we return to business-as-normal, those emissions will spike again. We can't forget about the climate crisis while we are trying to keep ourselves (and our neighbours) safe.
The United Nations is demanding that we continue to take action on global warming following a report that shows 2019 to be the second hottest year ever on record. Who knows how 2020 will shape up in comparison, considering we started the year with the devastating forest fires that hit Australia? January 2020 was the hottest January on record! We are breaking all sorts of records currently, and not one of them seems to be good. The U.N. is concerned that all the attention we are giving the Coronavirus means we are paying less attention to the ongoing climate crisis.
The Coronavirus might reduce emissions for a few months, but with the smoke and pollutants from the Australian fires circumnavigating the globe, there was actually a spike in carbon dioxide emissions. Perhaps all the Coronavirus has done, then, is cancel some of those emissions out. But global heating is still accelerating. The last decade saw not only some of the hottest years on record, but also an entire decade that was the hottest in human history. And while the Coronavirus is frightening and something we do have to deal with, the virus is only temporary. Our climate crisis is ongoing, and will need working on for decades, perhaps centuries to come.
