Do you remember what the subject of our conversations was before coronavirus got labelled as a pandemic?

Source: Fast Company 

Coronavirus has impacted our daily lives significantly. China, Italy, India and Spain are on complete lockdown, the United States of America has announced a state of national emergency. Japan and the United Kingdom has shut down schools, Ireland and Canada has abolished public gatherings, marriages and parties, and more than 10,049 people have died.

The pandemic has stirred the world economy, remote working facilities are being offered, and resources are scarce in number. There is no cure to this disease, and considering the deadly symptoms, it feels like the apocalypse.

BUT WAIT – What about climate change?

Source: YouTube  

Climate change has been a consistent matter of discussion in the last decade. Depending on the impact, it’s turned into an on-and-off subject. People like Leonardo Di Caprio, Greta Thunberg, and Jane Fonda have been climate change champions for as long as one can remember. Considering the recent bushfires in Australia, brushing off the catastrophic side-effects of climate change would be irresponsible and ignorant.

Nature is dying. Our food chain is disrupted. The human race has entered the endgame.

The response given to coronavirus seems to highlight a possible question. Isn’t it possible for the nations to collaborate and fight climate change the same way they’re countering coronavirus?

Due to the effective actions taken against coronavirus, a significant impact is already visible from space. In China, like many other countries, people are practising quarantine. As a result, people are not going to offices and schools. It’s not like people have stopped working entirely, it’s just that people are working from home. This has resulted in less pollution and a much cleaner environment. Hence, the before and after (quarantine) images of China show a mind-blowing difference. You can actually see pollution disappearing at a massive level.

Thus, one cannot help but question whether a similar impact would be observed if all countries took a serious stance in the face of climate change? You can’t justify climate change as any less of an emergency.

Source: Chicago Tonight 

The recent wildfires, floods, and change of weather patterns have been an awakening. It has forced, even the most ignorant of us all, to acknowledge the climate emergency. Capitalism and industrialism have been at a grave fault, and people are recognizing that. Factories and corporates are being “cancelled” and “called-out” so that if accountability couldn’t shame them, it could at least force them to be responsible. 

Thus, governments need to take rigorous action to minimize the impact of climate change. 

“It’s a whole bunch of different things, which could all happen quite quickly because we do actually know what needs to happen. And that’s the amazing thing. But the shift in which, and this is what’s so interesting about what’s unfolding with a public health emergency is that I think there’s a trust in the public health community to say, these are the measures we need you to put in place right now. They’re ready to go, and policymakers are acting. And the same thing is true with climate change. We’ve got those policies, they’ve been drafted. They’ve been waiting to be enacted.” – says Boeve, a climate change expert. 

Here’s hoping for a better future!