Students' Corner
Grim Reminder
By Sarah Espiritu
An invisible threat, or the Coronavirus Disease 2019, leads to the shutdown of various factories, stopped operations of public and private transportation, and limited personal mobility— shockingly caused a sudden drop in carbon dioxide emission, revealed by the Global Carbon Project. If the drastic measures for an unseen catastrophe incidentally helped us environmentally, it is certain that we could do more to end a visible problem— climate change.
As stated by Inger Anderson, the executive director of the United Nations Environmental Programme, that the visible, positive impacts are but temporary because they come on the back of tragic economic slowdown and human distress. Antagonistic as it may seem, businesses will soon function again, as well as people will also head back to work; the recovery of our planet will just be included in the stories of the past. However, earth's healing during this time may not be something to be considered as a silver lining, taking actions the same way we treat this pandemic without affecting people and economic growth is a good start, because just like the virus, it also affects our health and lives.
According to the World's Health Organization, nine out of ten people now breathe polluted air and kill 7 million every year—it is as terrifying as the COVID-19 which recorded about 376, 000 deaths worldwide for the past months. Even so, scientists from the University of Minnesota predicted that it is likely to last between 18 and 24 months, but our nature's dilemma will still be in the long run which means, our suffering from pollution due to our sick planet will remain constant if we will not act decisively to protect it from disruption.
Nevertheless, we could not thoroughly say that this pandemic brought us a positive impact on the environment for it also brings our lives to a complete halt. In numerous countries such as the UK, the USA, and Hongkong, plastic wastes boomed and cluttered several areas. It is quite disappointing that as we produce and discard plastics to fight the public health crisis, medical and hazardous waste will be generated and another predicament will be the aftermath. Although, it's great that it also bears good news, involving the shared photos in a smog-choked town in India, where the Himalayas is now visible, a 42% drop in power demand in Hubei, China, and how earth vibrated less based on seismic records. Nonetheless, discipline is a must, we could not only wish for our planet to be saved without taking initiatives.
London CNN reported that environmental campaigners fear that it is just the tip of the iceberg which challenges their efforts to reduce plastic pollution. It will not only risk animal life but also human health, in relation to the calculation of scientists from Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the University Medical Center Mainz, that the global, public loss of life expectancy caused by air pollution is higher than other risk factors such as infectious disease. Early findings also resonate that people with novel corona virus are more likely to die if they live in regions with a high level of pollution. The better we manage nature, the better we manage human health.
Indeed, the straightaway response demonstrates that we are capable of responding to the crisis. With sustained political will, we could build a different economy that practices actions that fuel green jobs and green growth because the health of our planet and the health of people thrive in equal measure. It is still possible that we could create a cleaner and healthier world through innovative ways. Indisputably, this pandemic is a burden to everyone's health and to the world's economy but a grim reminder of the havoc that we used to overlook—climate change.