Climate Change Response: What Can We Learn From the COVID-19 Pandemic?
Mark McGinley |
TEDxEncompassHK
• October 2020
“It is, what it is?” Donald Trump’s infamous words about the rising COVID-19 death toll in the USA, may accidentally and unintentionally contain keen insights. “It is” a system involving the Coronavirus (SARS COV 2) and humans and the “what it is” refers to how the virus invades us and replicates itself, a system guided and limited by only the laws of physics and chemistry that drive the natural world. Sadly and predictably, mankind was poorly prepared to deal with this pandemic, especially when it became apparent that the virus did not care about borders, politics, economies, education, or even sports. Science to the rescue!
Unfortunately, “it is what it is” applies equally well the series of events that will necessarily follow from our relentless modification of the global carbon cycle. The wake-up call that we have received from our poor-handling of the current pandemic may provide a limited window in which to encourage climate action or it might result in a period of “crisis fatigue”. In either case, scientists, educators, leaders, and general citizens will need to understand why we responded so poorly in this crisis so we will take the dramatic action required to address
climate change.
「算了，就這樣了」(It is, what it is)----現任美國總統對美國國内節節上升的死亡個案如此言論，也許實有洞見。如果「It is」指新冠病毒與人類並存在的系統，「what it is」應爲物理、化學定律限制的自然下，病毒入侵人體自我複製的系統。病毒不顧邊疆、政治、經濟、教育(甚至體育)，大肆進犯疫情面前毫無招架之力的人類。我們應該慶幸，科學在拯救我們!
不幸的是，「it is what it is」對應在一連串不可避免的事件，同樣見於人類擅自嬗變碳循環的情況。現時疫情處理差劣是一個警號，警醒我們從有限情況下應對氣候危機，否則將會陷入「危機疲勞」時期。不論如何，科學家、教育人士、不同界別領袖與民衆，都必須明白我們處理疫情差劣的緣由，我們同樣要採取果斷行動應對氣候變化危機。