Is the corona crisis gong to be a cross road? Do the trillion dollar rescue packages carry enough weight to move a fossile dependent world over to nature’s own power plants?
The Winston Churchill quote “never let a good crisis go to waste” comes to mind. When Barack Obama was elected as president, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel re-used it citing challenges like climate change, health care and the financial crisis.
Corona is a global crisis
This is not the time to celebrate the corona virus in the name of saving the planet. As I write this 21,000 people have lost their lives and more than 465,000 cases have been reported, according to WHO. Millions of people have lost their livelihood. Developing countries are hard hit and poor health services have become poorer.
Crisis means opportunities
Yet, I wonder. Have lock downs around the world given the ocean a little breathing space? After all, prior to corona, the ocean absorbed absorbed one million CO2 every hour. Has this figure gone down? What about plastics? In 2018 the world produced 359 million tons of which 8 or more goes into the ocean. And over fishing is by no means solved. Maybe some endangered fish stocks kan get back on their fins?
Also read: New deadly stroke for the Great Barrier Reef
Could be, but right now, I don’t think a few months slow down of the world economy will mean too much for the ocean. Better then to look at the possibilities on the long run.
The financial crises in 2008
Economics that follow the corona crisis compares it with the financial crisis in 2008. They predict this one is going to be worse. Many countries will either have zero or negative economic growth, including the big ones. The UN estimates that the world will lose one trillion dollar in 2020.
The world economy slowed down during the financial crisis in 2008, but it didn’t take long before it recovered. The coal- and gas industry geared up, with the support of shopaholics around the world. But, 10 years ago, the climate crisis was strictly speaking not on the agenda. It wasn’t even called a crisis. It was global warming. “Code red” was far from our vocabulary. Climate anxiety and school strikes were yet to emerge and as were actual solutions.
Solutions on the rise
Head of European Climate Foundation, Laurence Tubiana said last week that corona rescue packages must designed to accelerate the green shift. She said the EU should use the Green Deal as a road map.
“We can absolutely address this short-term economic crisis, at the same time making the right choices that don’t lock in the economy of Europe to the fossil fuel economy”. If governments do not use stimulus funding to invest in a green economy, it will represent a wasted opportunity, Tubiana said
Digital shift
In our home we all work digitally. The kids, age 12, 14 and 17 were Teams smart in two days. My wife and I have lots of meetings digitally, and it works fine. I have had several important meetings that wouldn’t have been any more efficient at the office, actually rather the opposite, I think to myself. If this is the experience by hundreds of millions others around the world, it means a significant reduction in CO2 emissions from air travel.
The IPCC decided recently to organize one of their high level meetings digitally. If now, why not the next meeting, and why not other big companies and organizations?
The digital shift is not new and the technology has been around for a while. We just needed to forced to use it on a big scale.
Many employees have most likely enjoyed not having to travel to work through rush hour traffic, spared from noisy offices and weekly air travels.
What has this to do with the ocean?
CO2, CO2, CO2…
Human activity has emitted around 500 billion tons of CO2 since the Industrial Revolution. 30 per cent of this has been absorbed by the ocean. Every hour, the oceans absorb one million tons CO2.
CO2 reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid. The more acid seawater becomes, the less calcium carbonate it can hold. Corals need this to build their skeletons. Hence, human activity keeps coral reefs from getting their building blocks.
Before the Industrial Revolution, the ocean pH was 8.2. Today the average pH is 8.1. A decrease of 0.1 means 30 per cent more acid water. Human beings can control the pH in their blood. Many of the simpler marine species don’t have this ability.
In Venezia the water looks clearer and you can actually see the fish, no that the tourists are absent. NASA has already taken images documenting less emissions in China. In New York scientists have recorded a 50 per cent reduction in carbon monoxide.
Can these experiences help us remember what nature really is and what the green shift can give us?
Featured image: Lofoten, July, 2019
