Sudden Lifestyle Shift to Avoid Getting COVID-19 Impacts Climate Change

According to the New York Times article “Social Distancing? You Might Be Fighting Climate Change, Too,” the new lifestyles or habits that we have acquired by necessity to safeguard against contracting the coronavirus have some positive impacts on climate change.

As of the publishing of this post, you might have read or watched on the news that countries have announced travel restrictions on all modes of transportation, both local and international, to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Many significant sports events, concerts, and convention gatherings, both local and international, have been cancelled. People who have come from countries with an ongoing coronavirus outbreak are required by their home countries to self-isolate for at least 14 days.

Dr Kimberly Nicholas, a researcher at the Lund University Center for Sustainability in Sweden, stated that the sources of our most significant carbon emissions are these three lifestyles: flying on an aeroplane, driving a car, and consuming animal products (Schwartz, 2020).  

Schwartz (2020) says further:

• According to Dr Nicholas, people who are avoiding travel by air and car because of the coronavirus are already two-thirds of the way to reducing carbon emissions. She is the author of a 2018 study that examines GHG emissions reductions through people’s behaviour in combating climate change, and is now writing a book on personal action and the climate crisis.  
• But now, due to the virus, things have changed drastically. People limit travel and mobility by working from home and abstaining from social interactions.
• Social distancing already reduces greenhouse gas emissions, an effective climate-mitigating action.

However, how long these habits, such as working from home, travelling less, ordering groceries online, and avoiding unnecessary social gatherings, will stick after the coronavirus is contained will probably depend on the benefits or rewards a person gets from these activities.

Climate change and coronavirus have something in common

Do climate change and coronavirus have something in common? According to Kim Cobb, a climate scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, both demand early aggressive action to minimise loss (Sengupta, 2020).

Sengupta (2020) explains more:

• The World Health Organization claimed at one point that there are ‘alarming levels of inaction’ regarding the global response to the coronavirus—a familiar phrase to those who have been pushing drastic actions against climate change.
• Both demand early aggressive action to minimise loss or to ‘flatten the curve’. Scientists have been urging world leaders to take more decisive action on climate change to reduce emissions. Now, they say that inaction has led to extreme climatic events, such as the three-month-long flood in the Florida Keys, wildfires in Australia, and deadly heatwaves in Europe.
• Dr Elke Weber, a behavioural scientist at Princeton University, said that how we are responding to climate change stems from how our brain works. He said that our brains are poor at thinking about tomorrow, and climate science, which deals with future probabilities, is complex for us to fear and challenging for our brains to comprehend. Our brains have been wired to focus on the present moment.
• Our leaders and policymakers’ delaying actions on climate change are teaching us lessons on how to fight the coronavirus now. Although it may be costly now to act on these future threats, it is essential to enact policies that will protect us in the near future.  
• A significant challenge remains in addressing climate change. These include halving global emissions over the next decade to keep the temperature rise within 1.5°C, because failure to do so will lead to more catastrophes, such as coastline inundation, worsening wildfires, and droughts as early as 2040.

A study by the University of Chicago researchers projected that by 2100, climate change will kill as many people as cancer and infectious diseases today.

The big question remains: Will emissions be accelerated once the coronavirus is contained, allowing the global economy to revive?

Sengupta’s article suggests that the decision to adopt green growth policies or continue using fossil fuels depends on major emitters like China and the US.

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has been calling on world leaders to end wasteful subsidies for fossil fuels and take more ambitious actions to prevent climate change.

Let us continue to be vigilant about protecting our health and our environment during the coronavirus pandemic.

PHOTO CREDIT: By Original author: Pharexia – This vector image includes elements taken or adapted from this file:  BlankMap-World.svg. Data derived from Johns Hopkins University CSSE, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New York Times, CNBC, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link