The global pandemic has been a major environmental factor in human life for ages, as well as climate change. The world was hit by a pandemic just recently which affected many lives. COVID-19 killed millions of people and made a lot of people sick and weakened. With that said, I do believe COVID-19 and climate change can relate to each other. They may not appear similar, but they have some similar traits, which can affect human life and settling. Before the pandemic started, climate change was at the forefront of political conversations and agendas. It was an important time to take action to protect the future of the planet. Climate change affects air quality, drinking water, food supply and shelter. Since COVID-19 began, we have seen similar affects as well, where food supply, water and other factors that are associated with health have all been in danger. Climate change is expected to cause around 250,000 additional deaths annually between 2030 and 2050. As we already know, COVID-19 alone has claimed the lives of 2.3 million people worldwide since the start of the pandemic. Another way they relate with each other is how they each highlight the disparities between the poor and rich in terms of health care and exposure to factors that poorly affect health.
Destroying forests, crops and vegetation can lead pandemics and worsen the climate. Humans, in some cases, do have themselves to blame, regarding the cause of pandemics and climate change. We don’t take good care of our environment, so in the end it turns around and harms us in such ways. When we put a stop to such behaviors, we would see a decrease of pandemics and in climate changes. Personally, as a Christian, one thing I know and believe is that after creation, God saw and said that everything he made was good. Furthermore, who then are we to destroy all these forests, oceans etc. The pandemic and climate change do affect each other in a way. For example, climate change and infectious disease cause preventable loss of human life. The U.S is affected by the compound risk of COVID-19 and climate change in many ways. Many have lost their lives, jobs, positions, and many other things. The economic system went down, which also brought up many retail prices increasingly in stores. The country I’m from, which is Ghana, also had an impact as well, but it wasn’t as heavy as the United States and other parts of the world. Ghana has recorded 1,445 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began, according to the World Health Organization. This shows the mini-impact it had on my country. Many Ghanaians abroad were very thankful and grateful to God that most of their family back home are still alive and well. The negative side was the loss of jobs, political disagreements among the leaders, and expenses going high. Many researchers and scientists say that the hot temperature played a key role in the effect of this pandemic on Africa. This is true, as I’ve already mentioned the minimal number of deaths that happened in Ghana.
Both the pandemic and future climate changes are indeed major problems the world will face in the upcoming years. Fortunately, we have seen that COVID-19 has started decreasing effectively. Over the coming years, we should see more strategies implemented to amend human behavior so that it has less impact on the environment, and on the spread of infectious diseases. We have now seen the relationship that a global pandemic and climate change has. Each appears differently but has similar effects on the world.
image: https://blueprintforbetter.org/articles/what-can-covid-19-teach-us-about-climate-change-experts-weigh-in/
What Can COVID-19 Teach Us About Climate Change? Experts Weigh In
