ENVIRONMENT – The global spread of coronavirus is closely linked to the climate crisis. This problem is exacerbated (and most likely caused) by the degradation of the environment for which we are responsible. How we deal with it could affect the health of the planet, and all of its people, for generations.
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The economic downturn has temporarily reduced air pollution and encouraged the return of wildlife to some cities severely affected by the virus. However, it seems that the pandemic is diverting attention from, or hampering, the fight against climate change. In the United States, the Trump administration has used this pretext to raise vehicle emission standards upwards. International climate summits have been canceled. Consumers are starting to use single-use plastic bags again for fear of contamination, calling into question years of progress.
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However, the fight against an epidemic and against climate change are not two mutually exclusive causes, suggests Aaron Bernstein, pediatrician at the Boston Children’s Hospital and director of the Center for Climate, Health and the Environment at TH Chan. Harvard School of Public Health.
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The HuffPost asked Dr. Berstein, who specializes in the health impacts of climate change, how actions to slow it down could help us be healthier in order to withstand or even prevent the next pandemic to emerge.
Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, provides a clear horizon on March 21, 2020, while the majority of residents are confined to their homes to control the spread of the new coronavirus. Beirut’s air is notoriously highly polluted.
HuffPost: What is the connection between the coronavirus pandemic and climate change?
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Aaron Bernstein: The links between Covid-19 and climate change are real. For example, it is being demonstrated that air pollution increases the risk of dying from the Covid. This is what we see in the United States, and I find it appalling. An increase of one microgram in the volume of particles per cubic meter of air increases the risk of death by 15%. It’s a very small change in air quality, but it does cause a significant increase in mortality.
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We know that air pollution in the United States is due to the use of fossil fuels, the consumption of gasoline for cars, and the vast majority of coal in power plants. This pollution kills the patients of Covid.
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Climate-friendly actions therefore help fight the pandemic.
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Another link: deforestation. Some 20% of CO emissions appear to be linked to deforestation, which is also a major factor in the emergence of infectious diseases. We do not really understand how the Covid appeared, but we have every reason to believe that it was transmitted to humans by bats.
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In the case of another recent and very worrying epidemic that occupied everyone’s mind not so long ago – Ebola -, the destruction of forests in West Africa seems to have contributed to the migration towards the north of the bald -mouse. This deforestation could have caused human-animal interactions that would never have occurred otherwise.
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There is abundant evidence that deforestation promotes the emergence of diseases, such as malaria in the Amazon. It is also a major driver of climate change. Stopping deforestation would be good for both the climate and the prevention of infectious diseases.
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John Wilcox for Coverage, a BCBS of MA news service
Dr. Aaron Bernstein
Emit less CO2
People see coronavirus as an existential threat. The number of deaths continues to increase, we feel the danger approaching, and we act accordingly. Climate change is also killing us. Do we refuse to see him or do we just delay taking action?
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I believe that at the moment the crux of the war in the fight against climate change is to make people understand that our actions in favor of the climate also have a beneficial effect on our health, including on the most serious problems we face.
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Health officials have been ineffective in preventing obesity. People should be encouraged to eat less red meat, less processed meat and more unprocessed plant foods. It’s good for the climate, and it’s effective against obesity.
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They should also be encouraged to get out of their car, in which they remain alone for hours, stuck in traffic jams, which is very unhealthy. Carpool is preferred, preferably public transport and, as far as possible, cycling and walking (on suitable routes). These are essential measures to tackle the problem of obesity. Of course, the more we use public transport and non-motorized trips, the less CO2 we emit.
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These, among other things, are the main arguments for ensuring that everyone contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The more we focus on the short-term health benefits of climate action, the concrete things people can cling to, the more we will educate the public about the measures needed to fight climate change.
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Our attempts to stop the spread of the coronavirus incidentally benefit the climate. We use less, produce less, fly and drive less, and city air is less polluted. How can we put into practice what we have learned by trying to flatten the curve of the coronavirus to do the same with that of climate change?
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What we are seeing right now is that air pollution, for example, is linked to human activities. If we stop polluting so much, we live healthier lives. The improvement in air quality that has resulted from the slowing economy in China may well save at least as much, if not more, lives than the coronavirus has claimed. . That’s how strong the impact of pollution is.
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“” There are opportunities to accelerate the necessary transition, despite the disaster we are facing. “”
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Another point that I consider crucial is that during major upheavals like the one we are currently experiencing, economies are rebuilt. And we have the opportunity to put in place solutions that were not possible until now. All kinds of businesses are closed. This could be an opportunity to improve their energy performance, to switch them from fossil fuels to renewable energies, and what do I still know? I think there are opportunities to accelerate the necessary transition, despite the disaster we are facing.
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Progress to be made in obesity
Three years ago, Dr. Anthony Fauci (American infectious disease specialist and current White House advisor on the coronavirus, Ndt) predicted that we would be affected by such an epidemic. If only we had listened to it back then! If we had started to massively reduce our CO emissions, would we be in a better position to face the current crisis?
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Air pollution clearly worsens the disease. In the United States, this pollution has been getting worse for two years, which has not happened in decades. So if we had taken action in the past three years to fight air pollution, lives would have been saved.
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The other factor to take into account – and I think we come back to what I said earlier about common solutions to climate change and the pandemic – is the epidemic of obesity in this country. Covid-19 is much more serious in people who already have health problems. These problems are largely avoidable. Three years is short. But it goes without saying that we could have made more progress in obesity and physical activity, especially by promoting cycling and walking. With such measures, we could have been healthier.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pedestrians in Corona Plaza, Queens, New York, April 2, 2020. Data reported by city health officials shows that residents of the Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Corona neighborhoods – mostly from the classroom workers and often immigrants – are more likely to test positive for coronavirus than those in wealthy, mostly white, neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
In addition to all these concerns about obesity and pollution, common to climate change and Covid-19, poverty greatly increases the risks. We have already seen that poor communities and states are devastated, unlike others.
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We could have implemented policies that, for example, would provide the poor with good medical coverage. Or illegal immigrants who kill themselves in jobs that nobody wants and pay their taxes, to get American citizenship. In this period of epidemic, who wants to deliver errands or exercise a risky activity for a pittance? Wouldn’t it be better for everyone if these people were integrated into society?
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What can we do now to prepare for the next pandemic? Because I guess there will be others.
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According to the latest estimates, governments have already spent $ 7 trillion to resolve this crisis. A fraction of that – just over $ 100 billion a year – would be enough to accomplish what many biologists believe is adequate to create or preserve secure areas for wildlife.
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“” We must focus on what we can do to avoid these epidemics. We must fight against climate change, and against the destruction of life on earth. “”
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So we really need to focus on what we can do to avoid these epidemics. This largely means that we need to fight climate change, and the root causes of biodiversity loss, the destruction of life on earth.
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Let us be clear, these actions cost nothing in themselves. Advocating for the climate and the environment does not have negative consequences for humanity. It’s quite the opposite.
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This interview has been rewritten for reasons of length and clarity. This article, published on American HuffPost, was translated by Iris Le Guinio for Fast ForWord.
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See also on The HuffPost: Coronavirus: the extreme scenarios of an anthropologist for the post-crisis
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