Since the December of 2019 humanity more or less has come to terms with a new way of life due to the effects of the pandemic. The negative impacts of this new virus on our lives are enormous. For the first time after many years, we can experience again how vulnerable we are to the will of nature. COVID-19 does not distinguish between color, borders, sexual orientation and so on. We are all humans after all. Thinking of that, another problem came to my mind, which also doesn’t distinguish between any man maid obstacles. Global warming. Let’s explore if and how they connect.
Differences between climate change and global warming
For starters, I’d like to distinguish the deference between climate change and global warming. Climate change refers to the long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define Earth’s local, regional and global climates. So, climate change effects Earth’s weather conditions locally, as well as globally, and can be influenced by many thinks such us volcanoes, oceanic currents and of course human activity. Global warming refers to the long-term heating of Earth’s climate, we have observed since the late 19th century, due to human activities. Primarily by burning fossil fuels, which increases heat-trapping-greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere. In other words, global warming effects climate by increasing the temperature of the planet and it has to do only with human activities.
Yet an other proof
Since WHO declared COVID-19 as a pandemic, many governments around the globe forced to place their citizens on lockdown.That, I’m sure, as already many of you know, had a major impact on air quality. In cities all over the world, as the quarantine continued, the atmosphere got clearer and clearer day by day. On the other hand, the effects of the pandemic on Global warming itself won’t be that obvious. The influence of humans on the Earth’s climate began almost 200 years ago. A few months of lower c02 emissions won’t have that much of an impact on the rising temperatures. What I believe and scientists are hoping for, is that coronavirus outbreak will serve as indirect evidence that can be used to prove climate change to conspiracy theorists (wishful thinking I know!) and more importantly, to politicians. Unfortunately, it seems that conspiracy theorists have found their way into politics these days. But how COVID-19 serve as evidence in the first place?
As with all elements, so does carbon exists in heavy and light forms, also known as isotopes. By measuring how much of each isotope is present in the atmosphere we can reveal were the carbon came from. In other words, we can see if it comes from co2 emissions or some other source. It all comes down to carbon 14. This isotope o Carbon exists in all livring things and unlike regular carbon, is unstable, with a half-life of 5,730 years. When living things die, they stop absorbing carbon into their bodies, and their carbon 14 starts to decay away. Scientists using a technique called carbon dating, can calculate how long ago something died, by measuring how much carbon 14 is in its remains. Fossil fuels used to be living things. Primarily, they were plants that died hundreds of millions of years ago and contain very small amounts of carbon 14, cause it decayed away eons ago. Therefore, CO2 that comes from burning fossil fuels, contains a very small amount of carbon 14. That means that when the amount of carbon 14 is relatively low in the atmosphere, most of the CO2 came from fossil fuel emissions. So, by comparing data taken from a period after we minimized the usage of fossil fuels with a time we used them regularly, scientists can yet again prove the impact we have on the planet. By the way, the technique of carbon dating is well known to Archaeologists and used for decades now, therefore is reliable
Global warming’s impact on epidemic diseases such as covid-19
Another connection between climate change and covid-19 comes from the opposite direction. Meaning from the indirect effects of climate change on coronavirus and epidemic diseases in general. It seems likely, though not certain, that climate change might be responsible for the covid 19 outbreak, in the first place. Scientists know through historical evidence, long before global warming became a problem, that climate change effects epidemic diseases. A good example is that Roman aristocrats retreated to hill resorts each summer in order to avoid malaria. But how can climate change be responsible? Well, it all comes down to the transmission cycles of infectious diseases and how are affected by climate change. That means how a virus goes from human to human or from animal to human. There are two main types of these transmission cycles. Anthroponoses and Zoonoses. Anthroponoses refers to human to human transmission, which we won’t bother with since its irrelevant That leaves us with Zoonoses, that refers to the jump of an infectious disease from an animal to human. Zoonoses can be affected in many ways by climate change, that might be natura or man maid. This includes ocean activity, irrigation, Agriculture and Urbanization. I am sure you’ve heard by now many theories about whjich animal might be responsible for the origins of covid-19. In my opinion, the animal itself doesn’t matter that much (except to scientists of course). What does matter is the chain of events that might have lead an animal with a previous mutation of this coronavirus to come in contact with another animal that have more in common with human DNA, leading to the final jump into a human. Either by consumption or by some other mean. And it matters more because it has happened before and will happen again. Humanity must find a way to solve this or contain it. And the only way is, obviously, by being careful of how we interact with the Earth and to be prepared for upcoming pandemics, so we won’t have to face a pandemic that hard again or at all, if possible. It’s clear that most countries were not ready for this.
Two centuries in denial
We know about the effects of humans in the Earth’s climate for almost 200 years now and yet we do almost nothing. It’s not a just theory, it is a fact. The first recorded mention of climate change appeared on 1896, in a paper written by a Swedish chemist named Svante Arrhenius . Of course, at the time no one believed him, since the consensus was that humans didn’t have the power to effect Earth in any major way. Until 1938 it seemed that no one thought of climate change, except a guy named Guy Stewart Callendar. This English steam engineer unsuccessfully attempted to revive Arrhenius theory. It’s worth mentioning that the handful of scientists supporting this theory, at any time in the past, believed that the warming of the planet, due to human activities would turn out to be beneficial. That includes Svante Arrhenius and Guy Stewart Callendar. Unfortunately for us, that is far from the truth. It wasn’t after Charles David Keeling proved that CO2 was in fact rising due to fossil fuel emissions, that made governments starting to pay attention.In 1988 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, was formed, which brought global warning officially on the table. In the coming years, they released five Assessment Reports with the sixth coming in 2022 (assuming covid-19 wont delay it). In all of them, it is specified how we effect Earth and underline how humanity has to react, in order to avoid what might be the sixth mass extinction. Hopefully, it won’t come to that.
Pale blue dot
Covid-19 is a tragedy that reminds us how fragile Earth really is. Unfortunately many people paid the price with their lives, and yet we are still moving in the wrong direction. I really hope that something good can come out of all of this and as Carl Sagan said many years ago, we will finally see Earth for what it really is. A pale blue dot.
