Emergency Siren: Covid-19 And Environmental Disaster
By Chad Apodaca
Clearly this pandemic is affecting everyone, and in some cases, it’s equalizing to know that everyone is going through the same difficulties. Regardless, these times have also put new perspectives on the future. The threat of death and contagion, at this point, is irrefutably true. We are basing global action purely on scientific and anecdotal evidence which has developed radical change. But this entire process has personally given me an insight into the fact that people will ignore imminent damage and will almost always look out for immediate gains or losses.
I strongly believe we will experience something very similar to this global catastrophe soon, but regarding environmental damage. Look at the US, for example, one of the most powerful and influential global powerhouses. We knew that COVID would hit our shores, we knew the threat of such a virus, we heard anecdotes from China, and yet we decided not to do anything until it started impacting our own lives. Our country is massively under prepared for such a pandemic. Not enough tests, precautions, and care were established preemptively in a country that “should” have known better and planned. I strongly believe that this story of global panic will be retold, but through the lens of an environmental crisis.
This theme of delayed reaction will be repeated in the future. It’s no surprise that we have made irreversible damages to our earth, but people will continue to ignore clear warning signs until it is too late. We continue to destroy and consume because it benefits us now. We KNOW that the polar caps are melting at an exponential rate. Our scientists have TOLD us that many main coastal cities will become flooded from the rising sea levels, but on a national scale, we continue to ignore the facts until it will be too late. Maybe I’m a pessimist, but I believe that, although measures are being taken, the future of our globe is being widely neglected. Unlike this pandemic, we won’t be able to recover from the destruction of our planet.
Despite current economic undertaking because of the virus, global prosperity has been steadily increasing, but at the cost of over consumption and pollution. Our government and administration put the environment on the back-burner because it is something that is not immediately impacting most of our daily lives. Science has already told us our future if we do not make a change, but I’m afraid change won’t be widely accepted until it is too late. This topic is something that I have been reflecting on recently, and although not directly tied into my personal well-being, is something that I think is valuable to consider. We will reach our pollution capacity, and when we exceed it, I promise we will experience a crisis that will trump this one.