Is coronavirus really impacting climate?

By Lakshita Vohra

In this blog , I will discuss the different perspectives that emerge from the discussion of three friends on how coronavirus and lockdown impacted climate debates around us !

Parth-Hey !Look up !The sky is so clear ! I can see the flock patterns clearly making the sky look all the more beautiful! The weather has become pleasant it seems after lockdown!

Priya- Oh yes!Even I saw on social media that Dolphins and Swans pop out of Venice Canals , even the AQI is improving , it seems nature rebounds after human mobility stops !The animals are moving freely , the air quality has improved globally and there is less pollution!

Surbhi!-Ah! What about humans guys?It is only the weather that is changing and not the climate! The environment consists of living organisms , the economic activity , the production and consumption patterns , we do not see climate and environment as a single entity rather I think economy , climate and humans co-exist .The coronavirus undoubtedly is a catastrophe to humans though for short time it might have reduce the individual carbon footprint and has reduced fossil fuels consumption but its not doing much good in longer run.It is the lack of mobility that has impacted the AQI but it is not a good sign for human race to shrink all activities to get a good environment rather it asks us to reflect on how to balance economy and environment.

Parth — Right! I agree ! Also I think how we as nation responds to this health emergency would impact environment a lot in longer run, like economic activity revival decisions , extreme condition of lockdown to an expansions when things open, our behavioral contagion patterns that govern environment , the focus on clean energy and consumption of electricity , the country’s decision to deal with solar , wind , thermal and nuclear energy in the longer run for revival .

Priya- Yes! I also read that the impact is much because industrial manufacturing has been stopped and it is not good for an nation to stop industrial manufacturing and hence when things revive , it will have the same impact , the other emissions say the aviation industry that has been stopped globally contributes only 2.5 % to global emission so this debate that commuting and reducing once personal carbon footprint has very little impact on climate , the point is to look ways to map out economy and environment together as we co-exist .In the longer run if demand for fossil fuels is decreasing , it is not a good sign for an economy and the environment.

Surbhi- Agreed! I think climate change is not just an environmental phenomenon , it is a economic , health and political phenomenon as well , how economy operates when the health emergency arises , how climate activism still happens from our virtual screens, how governments respond to the emergency with online stimulus measures and the research on climate , how political will changes for climate related discussions , this quote ‘ Nature rebounds where humans recede ‘ is untrue to me !

Priya! -Yes ! Coronavirus actually throws questions for policymakers , climate activist , environmentalist across the globe to create an operational economy that co-exist with people with a liveable climate , negotiable trade-offs in terms of mobility but not in terms of livelihood and breathing capacity and Right to healthy life !

Right to clean air is a fundamental right and not an optional one , therefore clear deliberation and discussion and legislative decisions should be there on violation of it so that one should not use pandemic as a relief from pollution but develop ecosystem in such a way that everybody breathes without sacrificing economically .