The most recent global crisis that has taken the world by storm has undoubtedly been the spread of the Coronavirus or Covid-19. The spread of Covid-19 has caused the lockdown of hundreds of millions of people globally. While this catastrophe has been going on there seems to be a benefit from this global shutdown. China is the world's leader in carbon emissions and experts have estimated a drop of about 25% in this month alone. The cease of production has lessened the usage of oil and other fossil fuels. On top of less global production, the use of transportation has also decreased heavily. The decline of transportation in major US cities like New York and San Francisco have led to decreased carbon emissions in these cities. The decline in transportation leads to people spending more time in their homes which will undoubtedly raise energy consumption within the home. But this energy usage is less than that of shipping and producing goods around the world.
This relates to our Ecology class because it shows how developed countries are contributing large amounts of CO2 emissions by means of transportation and production. Also, it proves that flying along with traveling by vehicle affects our ecological footprint. The impact of constant jam-packed traffic in major cities plays contributes an unsustainable amount of CO2 emissions that the world is unable to handle. As a whole, this global pandemic has proven a couple of things. One is that if it was a disease that far more deadly our world is nowhere near prepared for that. Lastly that ecological footprint in economically thriving nations is heavily based upon production and transportation.
My take on this is as follows. The impact of the spread of Covid-19 has opened the eyes of many in proving that we need to change the way we globally produce and ship goods around the world. This change obviously won't happen overnight or even within the next several years. This is an issue that will require baby steps so that businesses aren't overwhelmed with the change. It is unfortunate that it took a global pandemic to figure this out but now that we know we have no excuse to not act on this.
This image shows the empty streets of New York City
during the lockdown. Most businesses closed
leaving the streets barren.
Image
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/03/22/nyregion/21nyvirus-mood-print/21nyvirus-mood4-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp
Source
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-the-coronavirus-pandemic-is-affecting-co2-emissions/
This relates to our Ecology class because it shows how developed countries are contributing large amounts of CO2 emissions by means of transportation and production. Also, it proves that flying along with traveling by vehicle affects our ecological footprint. The impact of constant jam-packed traffic in major cities plays contributes an unsustainable amount of CO2 emissions that the world is unable to handle. As a whole, this global pandemic has proven a couple of things. One is that if it was a disease that far more deadly our world is nowhere near prepared for that. Lastly that ecological footprint in economically thriving nations is heavily based upon production and transportation.
My take on this is as follows. The impact of the spread of Covid-19 has opened the eyes of many in proving that we need to change the way we globally produce and ship goods around the world. This change obviously won't happen overnight or even within the next several years. This is an issue that will require baby steps so that businesses aren't overwhelmed with the change. It is unfortunate that it took a global pandemic to figure this out but now that we know we have no excuse to not act on this.This image shows the empty streets of New York City
during the lockdown. Most businesses closed
leaving the streets barren.
Image
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/03/22/nyregion/21nyvirus-mood-print/21nyvirus-mood4-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp
Source
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-the-coronavirus-pandemic-is-affecting-co2-emissions/
It is kind of crazy how it takes a global pandemic to force us to lower our carbon footprint. One concern I do have about this crisis, and there really is no way of avoiding it, is the amount of disposable items people will be using. People will be using paper towels instead of wash cloths. There will be mass mobilization to make disposable masks for health care workers. These things are necessary to produce and use with our current health crisis, and frankly it is unsanitary to reuse masks in hospitals, even if they are washed. I do wonder, though, if the mass use of disposable items over the next few months will lead people to move away from reusable items out of habit. This could also have a negative impact on our environment.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you made an effort to show the positive ecological impact of coronavirus without saying that coronavirus deaths are okay. I also like that you address that home energy impact will be increased but that CO2 emissions should decrease. Why do you think it will take baby steps for businesses to improve their carbon footprint and what would those steps include?
ReplyDeleteI like that you found a positive in all of this even though the news is filled with all the negatives. every news outlet is showing very sad and discouraging news so its nice to see something else. You did a very good job at tying the topic to our class too.
ReplyDelete