1. Preserving outdoor spaces should be treated as “essential” for our physical and mental health moving forward.
With a majority of the United States having issued “stay-at-home” orders to limit the spread of COVID-19, it is interesting to note that many states include in the order an exemption for outdoor exercise and activity as long as physical distance between people can be maintained. This indicates that there is at least a basic understanding amongst our leadership that spending time outside is an essential activity for the wellbeing of a person. With this tacit acknowledgement of the importance of being outdoors, we should expect and advocate for our government to proceed in the future with policies to preserve these natural spaces and promote a healthy environment.
It is not, however, the sole responsibility of our lawmakers to protect our planet. It is the duty of each and every one of us to ensure that each time we make use of an outdoor space, we leave it cleaner than when we arrived. My hope is that we all learn from this experience not to take for granted our time outdoors and to remember how refreshing and healing any time spent in nature felt in the midst of a lockdown. Ideally, this will lead to a newfound respect and appreciation for our environment and motivation to preserve it.
2. Humans have a more profound impact on the environment than many of us take responsibility for.
Worldwide quarantines and travel bans due to COVID-19 have given us an unprecedented opportunity to truly evaluate the effects of some human behaviors on the environment. With the decrease in travel and industry, there has been a notable decrease in air pollution evident in many countries across Europe, Asia, and even North America. This correlation between human activity and air pollution indicates that we are certainly responsible for at least some aspects of the climate crisis.
Air pollution in the form of greenhouse gases contributes to global warming, which in turn leads to the melting of glaciers and sea ice, rising sea levels, and increasing frequency of natural disasters. It can also contribute to an increase in physical ailments including cardiovascular, pulmonary, and insect-borne diseases. It is of utmost importance for our future health and wellbeing that we acknowledge and accept responsibility for our role in climate change and its consequences. We should take the knowledge we have been able to gain about our environmental impact during this pandemic and apply it to our personal behavior as well as public policy moving forward.
3. It is important to maintain a team of experts to monitor and prepare for an imminent crisis.
Though it is fair to say that no one could have predicted that a health crisis of this magnitude would occur in the year 2020, we certainly knew there was always a risk of a life-threatening disease outbreak in the U.S. Just in the past 100 years Americans have faced Spanish Flu, Measles, Polio, Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, SARS, H1N1, and even the threat of Ebola. Somehow, though, we found ourselves completely caught off guard and unprepared to deal with COVID-19. The disbanding of the “pandemic response team” left us vulnerable, and failure to listen to experts on the subject of global health caused us to lose critical time in fighting this virus.
It is important that we learn from these mistakes moving forward. As things currently stand, climate change is not being acknowledged by our political administration for the risk that it is. The Environmental Protection Agency has been forced to loosen regulations on air pollution and violations are frequently going unchecked, despite the warnings of scientists and experts. Our job is to exercise our right to vote to ensure that our representatives advocate for policies and agencies that will monitor the status of our environment, advise on and enforce protective measures, and prepare for the consequences of the damage that has already been done.
4. Clear directives as opposed to suggestions are necessary if a change in behavior is to be expected.
One major lesson I believe we have learned during this pandemic is that people will frequently choose to disregard suggestions for behavior if they find them to be inconvenient or “unnecessarily” restrictive. Further, they are even more likely to disregard these suggestions if there is no perceived consequence for doing so. Unfortunately, this means that strict orders had to be put in place to ensure social distancing and quarantine requirements to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
In terms of protecting our planet, we should learn from this trend in behavior and favor clear expectations over suggestions for environmentally friendly behavior. At the highest level, we must again exercise our right to vote for representatives who will support strong environmental policies. However, we cannot forget that green behavior starts at home. We should take pride in holding ourselves accountable for our carbon footprint and strongly encourage our friends and family to adopt eco-friendly habits as well, just as we have (hopefully) done with expectations of social distancing during this pandemic.
5. Global problems require global solutions.
Now, more than ever, it has become evident how interconnected our world truly is. A virus that began in China has now spread across the globe in just a few short months due to the ease and frequency of international travel and trade. It is a reminder that, in the grand scheme of things, borders are not barriers. Most of the time that is a great thing. It means that culture, religion, music, art, literature, food, science, and medicine are not restrained by lines drawn on a map. However, as is the case with COVID-19, it also means that a problem for one quickly becomes a problem for all.
This is also true in regards to our environment. It is easy to forget sometimes that pollution does not only affect its place of origin. To adequately combat the climate crisis, it will take global cooperation. Just like we need the World Health Organization to help coordinate the response to COVID-19, we need the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Climate Agreement, and other cooperative action, to ensure that there is a worldwide effort to combat climate change.
As a scientist, healthcare professional and the current Miss North Carolina Earth, it is my hope that you remember three things from this post:
1) Our health is intimately connected to the health of our planet.
2) It is our right and responsibility to vote for leaders who will act in the best interest of our health and the health of our planet.
3) We are all global citizens. We must advocate for the well-being of one another as well as the home we all share, Planet Earth.
Lili Klainer
Miss North Carolina Earth 2020
P. S. For the love of our planet and all that is good in the world, if you are utilizing masks or gloves to protect yourself from this virus, do not discard them on the ground. They are not biodegradable and failure to dispose of them properly puts your community and the environment at risk.