A lot has changed in the last few months after the global pandemic coronavirus hit Wuhan in China. Approximately 25 percent of the world's population is under lockdown. But nature is blooming. Blooming like never before. The virus which is said to have jumped from an animal host has now quarantined a major portion of the world, but only humans. The fauna is liberated, they're now running freely on the roads and highways that were once jammed with automobiles. The air is purer, the sky is cleaner. It's time we realize, that for nature, it takes just a blink of an eye to turn the things upside down. It's time for us to think about the Climate Crisis.
Time To Realize That The Climate Crisis Is Real
While it is the technology that is destroying our mother earth, it is the same technology that is giving us a bigger picture of the climate crisis. Let's look at some facts:
- According to a study by NASA, Denman Glacier in East Antarctica retreated 3.4 miles (5.4 km) from 1996 to 2018. Alaskan glaciers are melting 100 times faster than previously thought. The global sea level rose by eight inches in the last century.
- Research published in 'Nature Communications,' says that the rising sea levels will sink in India's financial capital Mumbai by 2050. This is dangerous, as the pace of sinking will be three times faster than predicted previously. The rate is accelerating every year.
- According to a climate change report by NASA, The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.
- Industrial Revolution has contributed to the ever-increasing acidity of the seawater. Since its inception, the acidity of ocean water has increased by 30 percent. The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the upper layer of the oceans is increasing by about 2 billion tons per year.
NASA's satellite photographs showed that with the coronavirus quarantine, Nitrogen Dioxide over china has dropped by a significant amount. Having said this, maybe, coronavirus is just a threat to humans, and a form of Earth's self-defence against human activities.
Coronavirus Lockdown Is A Lesson
Coronavirus is an unprecedented crisis. But climate change is not. It is a weighed crisis, we know the cause, we know the effects, and the best part is, that we know the solutions as well. So, what's the problem? The problem is with the mindset that still isn't ready to accept that climate crisis is real. The coronavirus lockdown is proving to be a rehearsal. A rehearsal of how effective these lockdowns can be, of how nature and its constituents can be positively affected if humans, the real culprits, do nothing but just stay at home for a while. Can we not practice this at regular intervals? Can we not be selfish to just think about the global economy, and not about the global climate?
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Time To Treat Climate Crisis As A Pandemic
The concept that lockdown is affecting the climate positively first came to light when the murky canals in Venice turned clearer. Not only were the fish visible under the water but the change gave us a lesson, that if we want, the climate crisis can be dealt with effectively, while we still have time. Christopher Jones, the lead developer of the CoolClimate Network, an applied research consortium at the University of California, Berkeley, told NBC News, "If we can think about how to prepare for climate change like a pandemic, maybe there will be a positive outcome to all of this. We can help prevent crises in the future if we are prepared. I think there are some big-picture lessons here that could be very useful."
The lockdown helped minimize harmful emissions as most of the industries are locked down. NASA's satellite photographs showed that with the coronavirus quarantine, Nitrogen Dioxide over china has dropped by a significant amount. Having said this, maybe, coronavirus is just a threat to humans, but a form of Earth's self-defence against human activities that have been eating up the earth.
Picture Credit- Slash Gear
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