My granddaughter was beside herself with excitement as the party for her 9th birthday approached. Twelve friends were coming, and everyone was looking forward to enjoying a couple of hours of playing games and gorging on a magnificent two-tiered unicorn birthday cake.
But then the “week that changed everything” happened. A canceled birthday party may seem trivial in the context of a pandemic, but it is symbolic of the layers of losses that we are all experiencing. So many social structures, activities and events that connect us have melted away — work places, schools, religious gatherings, family dinners, bingo games, sports events, favorite bars and coffee shops, even street corner conversations with neighbors and friends.
And here is the really bad news: The pandemic is just a preview — a preview of the disruptions we will experience as the effects of climate change become more obvious and pervasive. Both have devastating consequences, and both require profound changes in the way we live and relate to each other and the world.
The pandemic and climate change have many parallels: We cannot “see” either of them, but we know that COVID-19 germs are lurking on every surface and that climate change is the driving force behind shorter winters, hotter summers and more intense storms and droughts.
Both are accelerating and pushing communities and resources to the tipping point. Single cases of CIVID-19 become clusters, and clusters become hotspots, and pretty soon a state or country is in a full-blown health crisis. Likewise, wildfires, hurricanes, and tornadoes are becoming more frequent and intense, increasingly overwhelming communities’ capacity to cope.
Both of these crises are falling hardest on poor people. Those who work hourly wage jobs and lack health care and sick pay are falling off the financial cliff of the pandemic. Low-income families and communities lack the housing, resources and infrastructure to protect themselves from the effects of climate change such as floods and intense heat and cold. Other groups such as the elderly and people with illnesses or disabilities are likewise more vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus and the effects of extreme weather and carbon pollution that come with climate change.
Both of these crises are upending the lives of young people. The pandemic has stopped education, employment opportunities, and even weddings in their tracks. Likewise, climate change looms over young people who remind us every day that their futures are at stake; many are choosing not to pursue careers or have children because they fear that life on our planet is not sustainable.
People’s reactions to the pandemic and climate change also have some parallels. Both have their deniers — President Donald Trump being the Denier-in-Chief about both issues. On the other side of the coin are the scientists, engineers, economists, health professionals, and advocacy groups desperately trying to get people’s attention and to push them to do something to mitigate the enormity of both the pandemic and climate change and to prepare to cope with the consequences.
However, there is one striking difference. Unlike their half-hearted efforts to address climate change, state and local officials, some private companies, and many communities are responding with alacrity to the current emergency. They have stepped up to make difficult and sweeping decisions like closing schools and businesses to try slow the spread of COVID-19.
The “impossible,” such as universal unemployment benefits and paid sick leave, has started to become “possible.” As it turns out, most of us are willing and able to move beyond our initial frustrations with “social distancing” and let go of “business as usual” to save ourselves and our families and communities. In fact, this crisis has inspired many individuals and organizations to reach out to family members, friends, and the wider world in new ways. When I hear about the heroic efforts of health care workers and the generosity of neighbors, I want to cheer and shout, “Yes, we can!” and dare to hope that maybe we will be able rise to the challenge of both crises.
When the pandemic subsides, what will happen? After months of being cooped up, will people rush back to their fossil-fueled lives? Or can we take the lessons learned from the pandemic and scale them up to tackle the challenges of climate change? Hopefully, this profound disruption will convince more people to listen to scientists and realize that this pandemic is a harbinger of the far more dire consequences of climate change that will include, among other things, more pandemics.
Living through these tough weeks and months should give us the confidence that we are capable of initiating and managing profound changes and that moving beyond fossil fuels is not such an impossible reach. The surge of innovative outreach efforts potentially provides a path to the global unity and collaboration that we will need to respond to the climate crisis.
Finally, the pandemic and climate change are teaching us that we are in this together, that we all breathe the same air and germs and share the same physical vulnerabilities. When it comes to life and death, racial, national, economic, cultural, and gender differences are meaningless, and blaming and excluding groups is absurd and self-defeating.
Yes, times are grim right now, but the pandemic is also giving us the opportunity to hit the reset button on every aspect of our society. Let’s use this time to gear up, make plans, and go full bore in our efforts to convince businesses and governmental entities at all levels that we must collaboratively move forward to build a sustainable, equitable, and healthy world.
Patricia Ramsey lives in Amherst.
