Do we know what’s the human challenge with regards to nature after this pandemic is over?
On days of social distancing, where relationships are happening remotely, games and #challenges are flourishing on social media.
It makes me wonder: Do we really know the human challenge concerning nature?
The world on pause made the Himalayas visible from Punjab in India; wild animals rediscovered semi-deserted cities; air quality exponentially improved in some areas, and many of us were comforted by the idea that the environment benefited from a temporary break.
Will this impact have a lasting effect on the environment? Will we accept the #challenge of creating a new reality that seeks balance with nature after coronavirus is over?
Current context impact on the environment. How to read it?
In the presence of so much social change regarding our mobility, politics, markets, and the economy, it is not rare to wonder about its effect on nature.
The wildlife behavior of day walks through empty cosmopolitan cities and the temporary reduction of our consumption levels do not represent the change we need. But, they could be the preview of a movie, or new television series, narrated by Mr. David Attenborough, which might as well be named: “Nature. An opportunity to recover ”.
To understand the impact of this context on nature, let’s review some of the main issues that intervene in the subject.
- Air quality
- Greenhouse gases emissions
- Agriculture
- Politics
- Air Quality
We might all have already seen some comparative image of gas emissions that influence air quality concerning previous years, or we might have even read that some people called the lockdowns the temporary hiccups of emissions.
Many of the most polluting cities in the world have had the ones that have the strongest measures against the coronavirus. They have put factories on hiatus, reducing flights, minimizing the mobility of cars, and in some way reducing their consumption and pollution levels.
Unintentionally, this context created a sudden change in air quality, an index that the World Health Organization (WHO) associates with 7 million deaths each year. For example, there was a temporary 30% change on this indicator in Los Angeles, CA., which means that instead of having “moderate” air quality, they were able to enjoy some “good” air quality.
The WHO also declares that 9 out of 10 people in the world breathe polluted air, so you and I are likely among those 9. That’s how close we are to this issue — a Sustainable Development Goal that makes so few media headlines per year — .
A Harvard study described how COVID-19 mortality is linked to people’s exposure to polluted air. The result shows the relationship of the coronavirus with the average long-term exposure to fine particles in the air (PM2.5), highlighting the importance of strengthening regulations regarding air pollution to protect human health during and after this crisis. In conclusion, the research points out that “a small increase in long-term PM2.5 exposure, leads to a large increase in the death rate” regarding the pandemic.
As air quality improves, we are less vulnerable to this pandemic and other diseases.
With this temporary lifestyle, we have seen a drastic pollution drop in some places. The Himalayas have been spotted from India, and many people have been enjoying living with less pollution. But, if we do not change our consumption patterns, all those improvements are expected to disappear as fast as they arrived.
2. Greenhouse gas emissions
Among the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions, we can mention agriculture, transportation, industries (including constructions, one of the most polluting), electricity generation, etc.
Sectors like transportation have been affected, reducing international flights, the volume of car sales, etc. We have also seen some data regarding reductions of these gasses’ emissions that is encouraging. For example, China reduced its CO2 emissions by 25% over a short time compared to previous years’ emissions. But the environmental community remains skeptical about those improvements. It would be naive to think that a temporary hiccup in the most consuming countries' lifestyle could make a substantial change.
Besides, most of those environmental changes could be easily reversed after the pandemic, when countries might try to return to “normal.” As seen before, in an economic recovery effort, countries might increase their emissions even more than expected during normal times.
We hope that this trial period of the world in pause serves to put some of our values in place and shake our priorities ladder. The development of the new world order, in balance with nature, does not depend on the short-term measures that are a consequence of the pandemic but on each country's political decisions and long-term willingness.
3. Agriculture
Deforestation — mostly the one that occurs for animal agriculture purposes — is one of the major causes of habitat loss, forcing animal species to migrate, generating impacts on them. This is one of the ways agriculture relates to the coronavirus.
Intensive animal agriculture per se also serves as a source of pollution and infection from animals to people, with a long list of negative effects on our health. That is why the vegan philosophy has been gaining so much popularity in recent years. This culture isn’t just about animal justice but also about human preservation by encouraging the minimization of the animal agriculture impacts.
In the environment, everything is connected, although sometimes we might not see it or understand it.
One of our current challenges is how to maintain stable food production for the existing demand. This is a good time to highlight the trillion food produced that is wasted annually, according to FAO. All the food wasted in a year represents a third of the world’s food. Reversing this trend would mean there is enough food to feed 2 billion people. — For reference: that number of people represents more than double of the malnourished population in the world today -.
Regarding the relation between coronavirus, agriculture, and the environment, it seems obvious that sustainable and responsible agriculture will make us resilient to emergencies like the current one, including the impact on human life and our environment.
We would need to rethink the philosophies, production, and consumption modes. For the industry, it would be by minimizing the impact of the intensive agriculture philosophy; by developing organic and sustainable practices. For consumers, it will be by responsibly demanding and consuming products backed on responsible practices. Agriculture will also depend on each country's political will, something in which we all have power and responsibility.
4. Politics
What’s the impact of human presence?
Having quiet cities gave in 2020 deer, birds, goats, and other animals the confidence to reconquer places where they once lived. It almost seemed like a protest of those who tried to regain their space. Although noise pollution is not highly debated, I’m sure it also decreased in this period, avoiding disorienting species or changing their usual behavior. That is why we watched funny news from herds of animals that seemed to replace us in the city, and I was able to enjoy hearing birds that I had not seen or heard before from my balcony.
Environmental conservation and balance with nature is a major concern for many people in the world. But how does governance influence our vulnerability to zoonoses?
Laws play a key role in reducing the chances of another disease spread like COVID-19. Our safety relies in part on the regulations for places where animals and meats are marketed.
Human lifestyle also influences our vulnerability to these pathogens of zoonotic origin. Zoonoses are diseases that exist in other animals and get to infect humans.
The adaptability of viruses to change hosts and mutate under new conditions, together with our cosmopolitan lifestyle, living in conglomerated cities, and traveling from one place to another, make us highly vulnerable.
Those who explain how the coronavirus reached the human being, including as part of their argument: the displacement of species, the disproportionate use of antibiotics, and the deregulations regarding dealing with animals.
With the COVID-19 story, bats stand out as big carriers of viruses. This happens because they have great diversity within the species, allowing each one to have different viruses. Furthermore, they have a relatively long life and live together in large communities — something that makes them infect each other very easily -.
Human behavior has destroyed habitats, which causes animals to approach our spaces in search of food. That way, it is also easier to spread animal diseases to us.
Deregulations and flexibility for highly polluting companies also appeared because of the economic vulnerability. For example, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued temporary deregulation under which they suspended or made flexible the enforcement of environmental laws.
The EPA suspension issue explained the enforcement discretion outlined in this temporary policy, stating that as a consequence of the pandemic, laboratory analysis operations and facility reporting obligations might be affected. These impacts could include performing operations that met the stated regulations to discharge emissions through water and air.
In other words, this temporary policy told companies that they could contaminate or violate environmental regulations temporarily, as long as they declared that those environmental violations were related in some way to COVID-19.
Other countries also faced deregulation spaces that had a negative effect on the environment. Those types of policies were focused on defending human life in a moment of force majeure. But if environmental regulations are supposed to exist to protect us, how are we going to remove them in a moment like this? Are the deterioration of the environment and its consequences on us not a force majeure?
Many people wonder about the relation between the coronavirus and climate change. Although some say there is no direct evidence, we know that part of this phenomenon's impacts includes the connection of species on earth, which directly affects our health and increases our risk of infection.
As the planet warms up, animal species move and adapt their behavior in search of favorable conditions for them. This implies new contacts between species, which offers an opportunity for pathogens to stay in new hosts.
If we do not see environmental protection as a major cause, we will continue to increase our vulnerability as a species to new phenomena that may put us in danger, such as the coronavirus.
After a year living in a pandemic, the invitation continues to be to re-approach consumption responsibly, believe in individual power, influence country policies, and act accordingly with what we are: one of the many species that coexist on the planet.
The #challenge regarding nature is in our minds.
If we change the way we see the world as societies, we might use natural resources with the same vision of balance that nature is teaching us.
Ultimately, we will have to learn from this COVID-19 experience and take the best lesson we can to live a new and safer future.
