A few days ago, at a press conference on COVID19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo exclaimed that we’ve plateaued.
The denial expressed at the beginning of this pandemic kept infection rates rapidly rising with devastating consequences.
Thankfully, with growing COVID19 awareness we changed our habits to hopefully find ourselves now “past the plateau” as virus hospitalizations are slowly dropping. It wasn’t until we all came together and made difficult choices that there was a noticeable change for the better.
We’re still in the denial phase when it comes to climate change.
Like COVID 19, climate change impacts us all. If we don’t take collective action soon, the long term consequences will be far worse than what we’re experiencing now in terms of disrupting “business as usual.”
Pandemics offer a powerful way to sculpt the cultural consciousness. How will this experience of collective trauma change us?
Are we ready to breakthrough climate denial, face our fears, and remain connected to each other as we make difficult decisions towards fossil fuel-free economy, sustainability and climate resiliency?
It’s encouraging to witness the collective response to this pandemic as people world-wide, including politicians, face the facts and make tough decisions to shut non-essential businesses and shelter-in-place.
As we observe Earth Day’s 50th anniversary, the Environmental Protection Agency is held hostage by big business and short-sighted profit makers.
The EPA is responding to the current crisis by relaxing enforcement of key environmental laws, hence compromising air quality. Meanwhile, a recent study from Harvard University links air pollution to higher coronavirus death rates.
If you’d like to take action please call EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and encourage him to hold polluters accountable.
His phone number is (202) 564-4700, if his voicemail is full please email him at wheeler.andrew@epa.gov. We need to make our voices be heard. Please visit this website to learn more about how you can help https://www.mobilizeforthewild.org.
Healthy ecosystems maintain a self-regulatory balance scripted by evolutionary pressures. This century, humans have unapologetically invaded and disrupted the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth and caused a serious imbalance in the biosphere. We’re now paying the price.
Bats and humans descended from a common ancestor, a mammal that lived about 80 million years ago. Viruses can mutate and jump from our distant relatives to us, often through intermediate host species.
It is shortsighted to blame the coronavirus pandemic on bats. The transmission of this virus is the result of humans invading wildlife habitats and capturing animals for consumption. When stressed out wildlife comes into contact with humans the opportunity for all sorts of exotic diseases increases (Zika, Yellow fever, MERS, Ebola, SARS, Covid19).
Even here on Long Island, we have the example of the tick-borne epidemic of Lyme disease, symptomatic of habitat destruction and removal of regulatory predators from a previously self-regulatory ecosystem. It does no good to bemoan the animal for communicating disease.
Instead, we must take responsibility for our actions. We must realize the interconnected nature of all life forms here on Earth and think of ways we can co-exist without harming our non-human relatives. We need to be aware that global warming is driving animals away from their habitats and increases the risk of human exposure to zoonotic diseases.
How we prepare to meet climate change – like the coronavirus pandemic – depends on the choices we make and we must respond with at least the same intensity. The consequences of not doing so will be dramatically more disruptive than sheltering-in-place at home.
Joanna Macy and wisdom teachers from “The Work That Reconnects” state with calm confidence that this Great Unraveling will lead us to the Great Turning, giving us the necessary momentum for a Great Awakening, as we collectively turn towards life-sustaining practices. https://workthatreconnects.org/spiral/the-great-turning/the-global-context/
I’m a perennial optimist so I’ll turn towards that view.
This time of sheltering must be a time for reflection so that we can emerge from this wiser. We are after all the only species to name ourselves Homo sapiens, or “wise” humans. Right now is our opportunity to make the Turn without having to endure a full Unraveling!
If everyone turned towards regenerative and sustainable systems biology thinking and practices today, many of our world’s problems can be solved. Just as with the coronavirus, we can meet the climate challenge if we all prioritize correctly.
Globally, we must protect and conserve what’s left of the remaining intact forest landscapes. We must protect wildlife habitats and stop wildlife trade. We must abandon industrial agriculture and instead turn towards organic, regenerative farming methods.
Locally, we must establish community solar power plants and large-scale community compost facilities. Food waste rotting in landfills drives climate change as it releases methane that traps 28 times more heat than carbon dioxide.
By composting food scraps and yard waste, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and replenish the topsoil. We can then use that compost to grow vegetables, and support organic, community-supported agriculture programs. Climate-conscious caretaking of Earth includes carbon sequestration in soil, cover crops and vegetation.
When physical distancing protocols are lifted and we return to our every day non-essential distractions, let’s return with a renewed interest in life-sustaining practices.
Lets not just survive this time, but also learn to thrive in a changing climate.
