We Are the Problem.
Quarantine life has been hard. No one likes being ordered to stay home, especially when it’s so beautiful outside. However, it may be so beautiful outside because we’re inside.
Covid-19 has forced the world to see that what little we’re doing for climate change is not enough. Recycling plastic, metal straws, and electric cars are great, but we won’t reverse the environmental damage fast enough. Shutting down cities worldwide and forcing people inside has had reverse effects on the environment. We’ve seen positive changes within the first 2–3 weeks of lockdown.
The canals in Venice, Italy have never been clearer. The fish, swans, and dolphins have returned to the historic waters. Moving more East, the Himalayas haven’t been visible in India for over 30 years until now. The smog in India and Los Angeles, California are gone. Nothing but clear, blue skies ahead!
These are just a few of the changes we can actually see. Above us, the hole in the Ozone layer is closing up. China releases the most carbon emissions into the atmosphere and those levels are down over 20 percent. Scientists and environmentalists are hoping this is the beginning to stricter regulations to keep this reversal going.
Let’s take this back in time for a second. Meechy Darko, of the Flatbush Zombies, brought up a good point. “The ice caps have millions of different bacteria that are frozen in time, some for thousands of years. Is it possible that the melting ice [due to global warming] reintroduced some harmful things back into the world?”, said Darko. Maybe this isn’t where the corona virus came from but the melting ice could release something more deadly. This isn’t a conspiracy theory or to scare you, just another reason to take climate action.
Kailyn Franklin is a university student, who has changed parts of her lifestyle based on our current environment. These are some of her worries:
All over the world, countries are making changes. After quarantine, I’d like to see more companies allowing employees the choice to work from home to cut car emissions. Here’s how different people are feeling and some of the actions taken:
