From 5a55d20c0a77413f48baf8ada9168aeea45e5165 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Marcell Mars Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2020 15:04:45 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Update 'content/session/coronavirusandenvironmentalcrisis.md' --- content/session/coronavirusandenvironmentalcrisis.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/content/session/coronavirusandenvironmentalcrisis.md b/content/session/coronavirusandenvironmentalcrisis.md index 5d7cb43..7c9d8b0 100644 --- a/content/session/coronavirusandenvironmentalcrisis.md +++ b/content/session/coronavirusandenvironmentalcrisis.md @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ Degraded ecosystems, with their complexity reduced to benefit industrial farming # Environmental consequences of the pandemic -In the early days of lockdown in Hubei satellite images released by NASA were making rounds suggesting that the cessation of industrial production and reduction of traffic has radically reduced both the air pollution and as a consequence might save as many 77.000 lives.[^4] Large North Italian cities such as Milan, notorious for their air pollution levels, have experienced a radical reduction in pollution as well.[^5] In a seeming display of entirely irrational behaviour, as travellers started to abort their travel plans, the air carriers were let to resume their flights with almost no passengers on board. The pollution from now grounded fleets of commercial aeroplanes is the cause of 16.000 preventable deaths worldwide on an annual basis.[^6] And the irony of the matter is that lowered air pollution is beneficial to recovery from Corona. The slowdown in economic activity during the outbreak is bound to have a major impact on lowering global greenhouse gasses emissions as well. +In the early days of lockdown in Hubei satellite images released by NASA were making rounds suggesting that the cessation of industrial production and reduction of traffic has radically reduced both the air pollution and as a consequence might save as many 77.000 lives.[^4] Large North Italian cities such as Milan, notorious for their air pollution levels, have experienced a radical reduction in pollution as well.[^5] In a seeming display of entirely irrational behaviour, as travellers started to abort their travel plans, the air carriers were let to resume their flights with almost no passengers on board. The pollution from now grounded fleets of commercial aeroplanes is the cause of 16.000 preventable deaths worldwide on an annual basis.[^6] And the irony of the matter is that lowered air pollution is beneficial to recovery from Corona. The slowdown in economic activity during the outbreak is bound to have a major impact on lowering global greenhouse gasses emissions as well. However, the reduction in pollution and emissions coming from the breakdown rather than from a politically-driven and participatory transition is not something we should cheer. Weighing relative numbers of dead bodies is a dismal Malthusianism in disguise.[^7] As the world leaps back from the crisis, the vulnerable communities will be left to suffer, while the environmentally impactful patterns of the capitalist system of production will come back with full force. In fact, Saudis and Russians are waging a price-war by pushing more cheap oil onto the world market far above what is currently needed in conditions of reduced demand. Once the outbreak slows down, the world might be awash with cheap oil, which might open an avenue to quickly undo the emissions reduction that we saw during the outbreak. To cut a long story short, creating a sustainable and just life for all calls for politics and not breakdown.