Silver lining, or is it?

I want to talk about the so called silver lining of this pandemic and the quarantine. Yup, what people said about the earth is recovering and nature is healing. How in a matter of weeks and month, the air seem clearer and the sky bluer than yesterday's.

As someone who is really worried about my parents, family and friends, it really bothers me when people being insensitive and say things like, 'look at the bigger picture, the earth is healing. Finally nature is getting back to us from all the destruction human cause. The sky is now blue, air clear and animals come back'. It annoys me for some unknown reason, I just can't seem to process it.

But as a conservationist who understand the destruction human cause, climate change, deforestation, and illegal trade. I agree with that statement, that we did this to ourselves. That this will keep happening if we don't start to co-exist with the nature in a good way. Logically speaking, those statements are not wrong, but a bit insensitive.

Sometimes I can't help but think, If i am glad for the change in the environment, am i selfish and disrespectful to the people who suffers from this pandemic? Or should I just go with it because its just the way human cope with tragedy, by holding on to the silver lining, and because its logical?

Well, I haven't decide, maybe I shouldn't overthink it.

BBC News mention that " Levels of air pollutants and warming gases over some cities and regions are showing significant drops as coronavirus impacts work and travel. Researchers in New York told the BBC their early results showed carbon monoxide mainly from cars had been reduced by nearly 50% compared with last year. Emissions of the planet-heating gas CO2 have also fallen sharply.".

And changes not only happen on a small scale in a small area, it happens all around the world with quarantine and self isolation policy during this pandemic. "In Venice, the often murky canals recently began to get clearer, with fish visible in the water below. Italy's efforts to limit the coronavirus meant an absence of boat traffic on the city's famous waterways. And the changes happened quickly.

Countries that have been under stringent lockdowns to stop the spread of the coronavirus have experienced an unintended benefit. The outbreak has, at least in part, contributed to a noticeable drop in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in some countries." (Denise Chow, 2020).

But I do think that this is not a sustainable way for the environment to be safe. I do agree that the earth and nature got a short break, and it's good. But if people don't change the way they treat the environment, soon, after all is better, the pollution will slowly catch up to the old numbers and condition. And it is possible that this kind of pandemic will happen again.

Prof Le Quéré said that "Governments now have to be really cautious on how they re-stimulate their economies, mindful of not locking in fossil fuels again. They should focus those things that are ready to go that would lower emissions, like renovating buildings, putting in heat pumps and electric chargers. These are not complicated and can be done straight away, they are just waiting for financial incentives."

Basically, if us humans doesn't change the way we live, this short break will meant nothing, because eventually we will hurt the earth again and the cycle will be repeated.

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So I hope we can learn something from this silver lining we experienced during this difficult times.

I myself aren't someone who try to go on a carbon diet, I try my best, but sometimes I forget or can't be bother. I realize not everyone have the privilege to offset their carbon or mind the environment, because their economic condition is more important and they just try to survive.

But now we just have to wait and see, what the humanity will choose after this pandemic passed. Maybe conservation and climate change will no longer be the priority after the economy collapsed, and human will go back to mass production. Or human will try to be better and kinder to the environment because of the silver lining, and they will try to protect it, because this silver lining cost a lot.

Let's wait and pray for humanity and mother earth.

Cheers, ❤️