Green shoots in a troubled world
I think that everyone is agreed that 2020 is not a great year. COVID-19 is still causing havoc. Mismanagement of the crisis has resulted in many deaths in countries like the US and UK that ought to do better. It is looking like many more will die in Brazil, India and other countries. Even when we get a vaccine it will take time to get it to all who need it. It is a shame some leaders are still in denial about the scale of the problem. Yesterday's explosion in Beirut is also tragic. It looks to be an accident, but they will still need help to recover.
I try to find good news amongst all this. The first I saw today was that lots of extra penguin colonies have been found in Antarctica using satellite images. Basically they can see the guano stains on the ice. This means there are more penguins than previously thought, but they are still vulnerable as emperer pengiun breed on sea ice, which is likely to break up or melt as the world warms.
Image from Pixabay
To reduce global warming we need changes in how we use and generate energy. Wind energy has great potential to help with that. The UK is one of the biggest users of offshore wind with some big windfarms around the coast and more being built. A new report predicts that capacity could go up eightfold in the next decade. China may be a big part of that. Of course we have to take into account that China has also built a lot of coal power stations at home and abroad as part of their Belt and Road initiative. Massive use of concrete is energy intensive.
The pandemic lockdown led to less road and air traffic, but it is likely those will bounce back, even if some airlines go bust. Lots more people may be able to work from home in future and that may help, but we have to be thinking about development that is sustainable. We live on a finite planet that we seem keen to destroy in the name of 'progress'. We need leaders brave enough to make the difficult decisions that will allow us to have decent quality of life in the long term. The increase in nationalist leaders is not helping. They need to think bigger than just within their borders.
We can still keep acting as individuals. Millions of people using and travelling less has an impact. You can still support businesses, but be more choosy about what you buy and who from. No business has an automatic right to survive and we have some say with our purchasing power.
Live well and stay well.
I feel like we'll be living the results of this for decades to come. You know this pandemic caused the permanent closure of a mega casino here in Laughlin and now 400 workers wont have a place to come back to when the restrictions lift. The real world impact I think is going to reveal itself over a long, long time.
I just hope we can mitigate the damage as much as possible.
Here's the feature I did on the casino if you're interested.
https://peakd.com/blog/@johneyreacko/showcase-economic-tragedy-casino-and-hotel-closes-forever-400-jobs-lost
That's sad news and a lot of other businesses are closing. The economic impact will be long lasting and means we need more sustainable jobs.
Yeah that's for certain. I don't want to see this place become a 'boom' / 'bust' town. There's already an unfinished 15 story hotel that is just a lifeless husk standing outside of the town. Bad omens i think.
I called for the industry leaders here to diversify the economy before it's too late.
My mother in law and her family just bought real estate over here... and if the casinos go then so do their property values. Scary stuff.
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It's a frightening time to be alive that's for sure. I try not to dwell on it too much, it's just way too depressing. I've been distracting myself a lot with old TV shows, reading books and gaming. But there's a whole heap of trouble heading for most of us I think, in a lot of different ways.
That said, hurrah for the penguins!
I think we need to resist being distracted from issues that need attention. There are forces who would like us to not care.
Oh I completely agree, I didn't mean it in a "bury my head in the sand" kind of way. I do read a lot on the subject and keep myself as informed as I can. But I am very prone to depression and it wouldn't help anyone if I were to sink into that hole yet again, so I do have to force myself to look away sometimes.
As easy as it is for some to look away it can be equally easy to get too caught up in it. I guess what I'm trying to say is I strive to keep a balance, and those distractions help me personally to do that.
dolfijnen the canals in venice.skies cleaner than I have ever seen.
There are some things to be found!
I think a lot of people have had time to appreciate nature during lockdown, but I fear we will return to our old habits soon. The pandemic has been a distraction, but the environment is still an issue too.
Couldn't agree more. I think we'll return to them worse than ever - we just won't have the headspace or luxury of choice as most will be broke due to job losses etc. Ah, I'm being negative I know. hard not to be at the moment.
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I was just saying to hubs it seems that climate change doesn't exist anymore as everyone's focussing on COVID. Thank god there's been a bit of a pause on industry and travel to give the EArth a break a bit - that IS good news. The worry is that'll return to what it was. Our individual efforts STILL matter.
Politicians struggle to deal with more than one issue at a time. We need to keep the pressure on them to do what is right.