Today I did not go anywhere.
Everything that I needed to do—and everything my daughter was expected to complete—were all online tasks. Because it is raining, even her soccer practice was cancelled.
My non-driving day led me to wondering about carbon emissions and the impact of COVID-19; I remember seeing positive reports on this at the beginning of the global lockdowns. I anticipate being able to write glowingly about how we’ve improved greatly and are even making a definite change for the better as a planet.
The latest report I find is from “Science News”, dated August 7th. They note that new estimates show a reduction of ten to twenty percent in global greenhouse gas emissions.
Unfortunately, they also say that even those “massive drops”—even if they continue throughout all of 2021—are not expected to have a lasting effect.
However, in the same breath, they are hopeful that countries might enact climate-friendly policies as a part of their economic recovery programs.
Today’s silver lining is my own sense of peace, from not running around—combined with a bit of hope that our globe may look towards the future together. If we have learned nothing else from this virus, we now have very visible proof of how interconnected we are. Maybe we’ll be able to apply this to the future’s problems, too. I’m in a positive thinking mood, so I’ll leave on that note of optimism!
