Coronavirus: Nature is warning us, and we must listen
If someone says the word “nature” to you, what do you think of?
Whatever the answer is, the Coronavirus pandemic will change that.
Nature isn’t just mountains that you can ski on, rivers that you can fish in, or seas that you can swim in.
It is the reason why the receptor-binding domain (RBD) proteins in a viral strain called COVID-19 have evolved to target the molecular features on the outside of cell membranes, allowing them to effectively ‘bind on’ to other cells. It is the reason why the virus also developed a molecular backbone which consisted of a cleavage site, giving it the ability to ‘crack open’ and enter other cells. It is the reason why this pathogen was then able to cross-contaminate, jumping from 2 species which could not directly transfer the disease via a species which could.
This is nature.
Coronavirus will, unfortunately, leave a black mark on human history that will forever remind us of the pain, loss, and suffering of people across the planet. We cannot and should not try and lose the significance of that. But it can also remind us of a simple and clear message that nature is telling to humans: stop trying to win a war that will mean you will lose.
But what does this mean? And what can we learn from it?
Firstly, Coronavirus has exposed our fragility as a species. A single cell of a virus that infected a person through animal transmission has managed to bring a complete halt to human normality. Yes, our technological and medical advances have and will continue to save countless lives. But we are not God-like — we are all susceptible to infection, and there will be more and deadlier pathogens to come. We are part of nature and held to account by it in just the same way that other species have come and gone. We cannot let ourselves believe that we are an exception to a 4.543 billion-year-old rule.
Secondly, listen to science. Nature doesn’t care about political angles or market trends. It doesn’t care about campaigns or terms or economic growth. This virus has stripped us of all of these stories and left a void only data and facts can fill. In a time of crisis, it is clear to see that we don’t actually rely on politicians or economists to tell us what to do. Everyone is looking to the experts. But once this emergency has passed we must not allow this to revert back to the way things were. Accordingly to science, we are still in the midst of a climate emergency, and our response to the Coronavirus should be replicated in our approach to get us out of it.
Thirdly, and leading on from the previous point, is realizing that this is a climate change wake up call. If our domination of a few animal species has produced Coronavirus and brought the human world to its knees, we cannot pretend that decades of carbon emissions, pollution, land clearing, deforestation and anything associated with the destruction of nature have not led us into a position of existential risk.
But, crucially, we have already shown that we can listen to this message. We can learn these lessons and take action. We can elect for nature reinstatement and respect over destruction. We can slow down. We can meditate and reconnect with our environments. We can live our lives without flights and with lower consumption. Pollution levels have plummeted, emissions are expected to drop and rewilding is moving humans back to a level playing field with the rest of Earth.
And can we really say that we are no happier?
We must realize that nature is not a part of the human story. But humans are part of nature’s story. Nature is warning us, and we must listen.
At TreeTop, we are listening. We want to bring people together to combat climate change through natural solutions and nature reinstatement.
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If you are interested in becoming part of the TreeTop family, sign up via our website.
