What COVID-19 Teaches us about Fighting Climate Change

A stark dichotomy exists between life before and after the coronavirus. I wrote the first draft of my book Planet Now: Effective Strategies for Communicating about the Environment from November 2019 to February 2020; I was in school most of this time and partaking in the hustle and bustle of daily life. But the world was very different as I began the revisions process in March 2020, just as COVID-19 began to quickly spread in the United States and cause lockdowns in many areas. I barely left my home from the start of the revisions process to publication of the book, which reflects the ways global issues can impact individuals. The pandemic has killed hundreds of thousands of people, shattered the economy, and affected almost everyone in some way or another. By heeding the warnings of scientists, taking quick action, and having widespread commitment, we could have saved lives and prevented this tragedy from becoming so severe.

COVID-19 has foreshadowed the severe devastation that will happen without significant climate action. The pandemic teaches us a few lessons:

1. We must pay attention to science, even if it is predictive. At the outset of the pandemic, public health experts did not know what the total number of cases or level of spread would be, but they did warn that losses could be extreme without early action. Similarly, climate scientists have warned about climate change for decades, certain that the earth is warming but uncertain how quickly it will continue doing so. The rate of global warming is unknown because it is dependent upon our actions; that doesn’t mean we should not act because of this uncertainty. We cannot blame a lack of acceptance for science for a worsening environment. Most people don’t deny climate change. What we need is action based on science.
2. We must recognize that some communities are affected worse than others and work to change that. Native American, Black, and Latinx communities had the highest hospitalization rates from March to June 2020. Not everyone has the privilege of staying isolated during a pandemic. Similarly, we should not be surprised at this point that climate change has the worst effects on minority groups. Communities that are already disadvantaged have the least lifestyle flexibility and resiliency to tragedies from pandemics to natural disasters to food loss and more. Pollution is a risk factor for the coronavirus, and marginalized communities are already more likely to live near pollution sources, which sadly makes them particularly vulnerable to both coronavirus and climate issues.
3. We must involve everyone and show that individual actions help ourselves and our society. Some people make responsible decisions, like social distancing, during a pandemic because they care about others. Other people are responsible because they care about their own health. People have different motivating factors, so communications should cater to both. Similarly, communications about the environment should remind people how environmental action can help both others and themselves. People do not have to be martyrs by making sustainable decisions only for the good of other people and nature.

Certainly differences exist between these two issues, like how coronavirus is more immediately devastating, whereas climate change is a more insidious threat. We react more to a direct threat compared to something that may feel far away or abstract. And we need to act: the pandemic reminds us that social problems ultimately come down to combined individual decisions. While we are individually drops in a bucket, our actions can have ripple effects.

While the pandemic may have ~slightly~ slowed climate change, it indicates that our society is not prepared to handle major world changes that affect safety, public health, and the economy, which underscores the necessity of framing climate change as a complex issue, not just about nature. Let’s communicate strategically so we can save lives and mitigate the next major crisis of the century.

This is the third article in a series sharing excerpts and stories from my book, Planet Now: Effective Strategies for Communicating about the Environment. The book was just released in September 2020, and you can buy it here! If you want to connect, you can reach me via email — jessicareid309@gmail.com — or on Twitter @jessica_camryn.