As COVID-19 halts economies, yields immeasurable loss of life and prompts legislation that keeps people home, it has thus been hailed as the most pressing threat we face. However, we are not seeing the forest for the trees. Doomsday media coupled with a skyrocketing death toll reinforce the immediacy of the issue, but the tangibility of COVID-19 is overshadowing the looming existential threat of climate change, an issue that has much higher potential for complete and utter global devastation.
As of recently, the global death toll associated with the pandemic is just shy of 75,000. Most worrisome is lack of testing and how quickly the virus spreads due to its respiratory droplet and aerosol transmission. Politicians flounder as hospitals approach max capacity and protective equipment for health-care personnel dwindles. Stay-at-home orders have been issued across the United States, and law abiding citizens are left at home, facing the repercussions of the pandemic mentally, physically and financially. While optimistic estimates claim that we can secure a vaccine in a year’s time, our economy and its citizens are being crushed under the weight of uncertainty.
Even in the most tragic of times, however, a silver lining ultimately prevails. As roads empty and people sequester themselves, the machine of capitalism has slowed dramatically, prompting environmental healing. Viral articles detail miracles such as the vacancy of boat traffic in Venice that has prompted dolphins and swans to make an appearance. Though some of these articles have since been debunked, scientific data and satellites reinforce that COVID-19 has had a positive environmental impact. In densely populated cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York, satellite imagery shows a major decrease in emissions.