On Wednesday (so-called “Earth Day”), the World Meteorological Organization announced that they estimate we will see a 6% drop in CO2-equivalent emissions in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.
Does this comparison add perspective to your understanding of what the IPCC means when it calls for “transformational” change? How does it make you feel about the possibility of success — and further, does it change your perception of what “success” even means in this context?
I hope it’s becoming clearer (if it wasn’t already clear) why so many of these issues are about cultural underpinnings and systemic decision-making structures and not specifically about climate change: it’s because the “transformational” change that’s required pervades every aspect of the way we live our lives.
Note: Pandemics are not a “solution” of any kind, for any number of reasons, and to claim that the pandemic is “good for climate” is dangerously missing the point. That’s not what I’m doing by presenting these numbers together.
Transformational change indeed. One of the positive messages I've learned from the pandemic is that certain transformational changes are possible; it has taken huge external forces (social distancing and stay-at-home order) to significantly change my habits in a short amount of time. Most significantly is that we're traveling less. Flights have been canceled, we haven't done any drive-able weekend getaways. We spend more time at home, which has meant more time to plant a garden and long dog walks instead of leaving home to hit the gym and being out buying new stuff. I hope that many new habits born from this time stick in my lifestyle because I do think it has lowered my households environmental impact.
I agree with you that stay-at-home orders and pandemics are not a good environmental solution. Although emissions are down, the affect on human life and well-being is significant. I imagine many lessons can be learned once this is over and scientists/sociologists/economists can evaluate how a few of these transformational changes (most significantly limitations on transportation), have impacted access to food/clean drinking water, overall health, poverty, the well-being of the household and more. Since this pandemic has had such a significant affect on our economy, I wonder if it will be a wake-up call for economists and policy-makers. Will this event inspire them to make a more sustainable system that doesn't entirely depend on consumption, production and exponential GDP growth? Although our government has been singing economic success for the last few years, I'd say this is a significant failure in our system that is, unfortunately, likely to happen again. Sadly, I think "success" in the realm of environmental sustainability will come at the cost of many more failures (pandemics, natural disasters, food shortages etc.) before there is significant change and progress. I remain optimistic that we can persevere though :)
Transformational change indeed. One of the positive messages I've learned from the pandemic is that certain transformational changes are possible; it has taken huge external forces (social distancing and stay-at-home order) to significantly change my habits in a short amount of time. Most significantly is that we're traveling less. Flights have been canceled, we haven't done any drive-able weekend getaways. We spend more time at home, which has meant more time to plant a garden and long dog walks instead of leaving home to hit the gym and being out buying new stuff. I hope that many new habits born from this time stick in my lifestyle because I do think it has lowered my households environmental impact.
I agree with you that stay-at-home orders and pandemics are not a good environmental solution. Although emissions are down, the affect on human life and well-being is significant. I imagine many lessons can be learned once this is over and scientists/sociologists/economists can evaluate how a few of these transformational changes (most significantly limitations on transportation), have impacted access to food/clean drinking water, overall health, poverty, the well-being of the household and more. Since this pandemic has had such a significant affect on our economy, I wonder if it will be a wake-up call for economists and policy-makers. Will this event inspire them to make a more sustainable system that doesn't entirely depend on consumption, production and exponential GDP growth? Although our government has been singing economic success for the last few years, I'd say this is a significant failure in our system that is, unfortunately, likely to happen again. Sadly, I think "success" in the realm of environmental sustainability will come at the cost of many more failures (pandemics, natural disasters, food shortages etc.) before there is significant change and progress. I remain optimistic that we can persevere though :)