THE NEW CLIMATE

What Do Covid and Climate Change Have in Common?

No, it’s got nothing to do with China.

Photo by Louis Maniquet on Unsplash

Covid and climate change. On the surface, they appear entirely unrelated. One is a disease caused by a virus, while the other is a global systemic change to the earth’s temperature and weather patterns. But in fact, these two issues have many commonalities, including one critical underlying cause. First, some background.

SARS-CoV-2 first came to our attention in late 2019 and, by early 2020, was making its presence felt around the world, causing millions of deaths, and massive disruption to individuals, families, businesses, airlines, supply chains and economies. With impressive speed, and sometimes with an alarming lack of compassion, Governments worldwide took steps to protect their citizens. The unprecedented cooperation of corporations and Governments saw the world essentially shut down in response to this threat.

Photo of an empty airport as travel restrictions and lockdowns were imposed. By shawnanggg on Unsplash

Climate change, in comparison, has been on the radar of the world’s scientists for many decades, with the first documented mention of the greenhouse effect, linking atmospheric carbon levels with warming, made over a…