COVID Will Save US
The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger — but recognize the opportunity.
― John F. Kennedy
Climate change is here, now, and is the next battle after COVID. There are essential lessons we should draw for this challenge.
First, we need to make metrics around climate our top priority. Just as we use case counts, vaccination numbers, and hospitalizations to track our fight against Covid, we need to pick our top climate metrics.
We could track the top five greenhouses, resource production, and forest coverage. Or measure ecosystem harmony. We could even track frog species. But without these, we’re fighting the air.
Then, we need decisive action; we need to take climate metrics as seriously as we take COVID ones. Governments, Private Entities, and Citizens need to act together in response, just as with COVID.
Let’s remember: Climate Change will kill even more people than COVID. Climate Change will affect our lives far more than COVID. And there is no vaccine for climate change.
There is only climate action.
Finally, climate models need to account for swift feedback loops just as with covid. We need circuit breakers and ways to adjust things on the fly, in different geographies and climates.
If COVID kills us, there is no economy. If the planet dies, there is no economy, either. Just like with COVID, we need to balance the economy with the climate. And Climate comes first.
Humans have tasted disaster with COVID, and we have found ourselves strong and determined. We have the tools, the resources, and the personnel.
What’s needed is a united spirit. With it, we can overcome climate change. And we will.
