Eager to break away from my current state of isolation and actually feel the sun, I took a drive around my neighboring towns. It was just a joyride, something I’ve been doing a lot lately to get outside. And I couldn’t help but almost feel astonished at just how many people were out, taking walks or bike riding. Not for the reason that we technically shouldn’t be outside right now, but for the reason that I literally just have never seen so many people out walking at the same time before.
I felt a sudden sense of faith in humanity — I actually saw two people taking a walk along a forest trail of a local horse stable, and I couldn’t help but wonder, can the coronavirus teach us how to live a simpler way of life? And can this simpler way of life that we’re all experiencing right now teach us how we should be living in a warming climate?
The answer is yes. Although media is revealing that many are overbuying and stocking up on single-use items such as paper towels or tissue boxes, I see a lot of people in my community doing the opposite. Out of paper napkins? Use a reusable cloth or towel that you’ve got in your kitchen. Out of shaving cream? A light lather of hair conditioner, or even soap, will do just fine. Meehan Crist from The New York Times explains, “Maybe, as you hunker down with cabinets full of essentials, your sense of what consumer goods you need will shrink. Maybe, even after the acute phase of the coronavirus crisis has passed, you will be more likely to telecommute.”
So as people live more conservatively, will the environment be effected? Let’s look at the facts.
Right now, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is collecting data through satellites on how the novel coronavirus is actually affecting climate change, specifically, how many carbon emission reductions have been recorded during this time.
In Italy, the air is being recorded as strikingly clean, and canals in Venice are flowing clear water as boat transit is put on pause. In China, carbon emissions dropped by approximately 25% in February of this year. But is the reason for these drops in air and water pollution because of telecommuting and an increase in conservative lifestyles?
Nope. Research is proving that the recent improvements in the environment is not due to individual changes in lifestyles but due to the abrupt halt of industrial manufacturing.
Industrial manufacturers are such a large contributor to climate change that during this time of limited manufacturing, we will see improvements, but once production begins again, “emissions are likely to ramp back up,” as Crist explains. But media continues to illustrate the individual consumer as a large part of the problem, as the phrase “personal carbon footprint” has largely been shown to be used to deflect responsibility for climate change away from the corporation and onto the individual.
Pictures are being painted right now that illustrate certain factors such as telecommuting and limiting motor vehicle transportation as “helping the environment” while we battle the current pandemic. However, I believe we should be looking in the opposite direction at big industrial companies for clues on climate change. It isn’t people staying inside that’s causing a 25% drop in carbon emissions in China, it’s the stopping of most industrial production.
Adam Frank, Professor of Astrophysics, reveals that, “in the long term, the coronavirus will one day be seen as a fire drill for climate change.” We have the opportunity and the responsibility right now to look at the current pandemic as a precursor for the future. Our current forced lifestyles of simplicity can teach us how to live more consciously, but unfortunately our actions do very little on a global scale. And I think we’ve all known this, but instead of reading it in some article and nodding our heads, it’s actually happening right now where we can see it: in front of our eyes. There’s no more guessing.
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