While the media has been totally and utterly consumed by the negative aspects of COVID-19 which has swept through our world within the last few months, it is both important and relevant to report on the inadvertent positive aspects which have come with this world-wide pandemic.
Some citizens may be focusing on COVID-19’s death toll or the fact that our economy is crashing, I am trying my best to focus on the positives, whether that be because I am terrified, and ignorance is bliss, or just because I am a positive person, it is what my family and I are trying to do. I have focused my time researching the low pollution levels that the pandemic has caused as a result of decreased travel, industry and greenhouse gas emissions. This can be clearly seen by the aerial photos of the Italian canals which are now clear and have fish swimming in them, a stark contrast to the canals a few months ago which were brown and murky with the pollution of local industry and waste.
Likewise, due to the new shelter order placed on the residents of California, new attention has been focused on mental health and the importance of human interaction. Whether doing a puzzle, going for a run, or having virtual happy hour with the girls is your way of passing the time, we can use these weeks ahead as a time to grow. For me, going for a walk (6 feet away from any humans…obviously) is helping me appreciate the nature that’s all around. It is so important to take this time in quarantine to focus on your mental health and well-being, just as much as it is to stay physically healthy.
“The coronavirus is the biggest problem facing the world today, but before the outbreak, the biggest problem was climate change. And after the outbreak goes away, it will again be climate change,” Turnbull said. “But the desire to face down both problems can come together. Governments should show they can walk and chew gum at the same time by making sure that the trillions of dollars being injected into economies are done in a way that will keep greenhouse gas emissions lower and promote sustainable growth.”
As David Turnbull expressed, the problem around climate change was awful before this pandemic, and although there has been a change, it will still be a problem after. Yes, this is great that we have made a little change, however there is a lot more to go. We need to take these obvious changes as motivation and proof that we are hurting our world and we need to make a difference. If we think this enough, we will only make the problems worse. As horrible as this pandemic is, it is revealing human’s negative impact on nature, which we need to realize and try to continue to heal this world.
my thoughts & some mumbo jumbo 
2 replies on “A Little Bit of Light During COVID-19”
In times of crisis it can be tough to remain optimistic. Yes, COVID-19 is a serious issue and is affecting us all differently. However, I love the point you are making about climate change, and how we can learn from this time of struggle and potentially address the looming threat of climate change because of it. It will be very interesting to see how things play out once the pandemic is under control (hopefully soon). Sadly, the pessimist in me says that once this is all over things will “return to normal”. This means mass amounts of travel, high emissions, and a cavalier attitude concerning climate change. Maybe if the media would report on this a bit more, without being insensitive to those families currently being affected by the outbreak, more people would be willing to adopt permanent alterations in their lifestyles.
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Hi Molly. I enjoyed this post. I saw the stats about pollution on social media, and it lifted my spirits so much. I genuinely feel like this all happened for a reason, and maybe we don’t realize that we might have needed a pause in life. It is definitely tragic that there has been so much death and loss during this, there are some positives. I have been avoiding the news as well. I think it is a defense mechanism, considering it was already a lot to handle school and daily life changing. I’ve never just completely shut the news out until now, and I feel that it was necessary. The news still found its way to me whether by word of mouth or scrolling on social media, and I stayed home and took many precautions.
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