- [Narrator] The Coronavirus has changed everyday life
as we know it.
- The healthcare system really is struggling
to keep up with demand.
There are makeshift hospital wards being set up
wherever possible, even in hospital car parks.
- I know that some people in the last few days
have already lost their jobs.
- There's no doubt that this is gonna be very deep
for specific segments of the economy.
- You will not face this alone.
- [Narrator] Originating in the city of Wuhan, China,
the virus is suspected of transferring to humans
from wild animal meat.
- Chinese authorities have said that wild animals
are the potential intermediate host of the Coronavirus.
To prevent an outbreak like this in the future,
the standing committee of the National People's Congress
adopted a ban on wildlife trade on Monday.
- [Narrator] China banned the wild animal meat trade
in February to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Vietnam is considering similar measures.
There are currently close to 400,000
confirmed cases of Coronavirus worldwide,
according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
More than 17,000 people have died,
and more than 100,000 have recovered.
Italy, the country hit hardest by the pandemic,
is on total lockdown.
It is the first democratic country post World War II
to take such astringent measure.
- [Translator] The only concrete and valid measure
to be taken was to close these territories.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Narrator] Schools across the world,
including New York City's, the largest public school system
in the world, are closed.
- It's day one of at least a six week school shutdown
and families are working to navigate a new normal.
- You know, we're just gonna have to figure it out
day by day.
- While the severity of the virus pandemic is unprecedented,
it also shines a light on other issues,
including climate change.
Since the decrease in travel and activity,
the planet is seeing a noticable decrease
in greenhouse gas emissions.
What would happen if we took the same approach
to climate change as we are now to Coronavirus?
In 2018, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
said that the world has 12 years to make unprecedented
changes to all aspects of society
to decrease the impact of climate change.
- The report clearly states that the world
has already warmed by one degree centigrade
due to human activity, and as a result, climate change
is already affecting people, ecosystems, and livelihoods
around the world.
- [Narrator] Governments must work together to prevent
global temperatures from rising
below the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold.
Even a half a degree rise in temperature
could worsen droughts, food security, and poverty worldwide.
According to the World Health Organization,
climate change is expected to cause unnecessary deaths
over the next 30 years, due to issues including
malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress.
The climate crisis could set off a chain reaction
of ecological disasters.
The sixth mass extinction event is already underway
according to experts.
A study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences calls it a biological annihilation
that represents a frightening assault on the foundations
of human civilization.
- And it's going to sound the alarm, if you like,
on how bad off the environment is right now.
Even if the report can't actually say it,
experts say humanity is in the middle
of a sixth wave of extinction,
this time human-caused extinction.
- [Narrator] We can see the anger and passion directed
at authorities for not taking action
from youth activists, including Greta Thunberg,
Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate,
and co-founder of climate change focused nonprofit
Zero Hour, Jamie Margolin.
- So when I realized that it was such a big threat,
I found out ways to bring it to public awareness
in my country, and that's how I found out
about the Fridays for Future strikes,
and I decided to start the climate strikes.
- I wouldn't be organizing and I wouldn't be doing this
and I wouldn't be sacrificing so much
if it weren't so urgent.
- We are getting bigger and bigger,
and our voices are being heard more and more,
but of course, that does not translate
into political action.
- [Narrator] Thunberg sparked a global movement
that culminated in more than four million people
worldwide marching in climate strikes last September.
But the 17-year-old pointed out in her speech,
there's been little action on the part of leaders.
She pointed out that young people skipping school
to protest the climate crisis is not a sustainable solution.
- We don't want to continue,
so we would love some action from the people in power,
because people are suffering and dying
from the climate and ecological emergency today,
and we cannot wait any longer.
- [Narrator] What can be done to mitigate
the climate crisis?
While fossil fuels are a major talking point,
a growing number of experts are looking at agriculture
and the impact of eating animal products.
- A move to more balanced diets could help us
adapt to and limit climate change.
Some diets require more land and water
and lead to higher emissions than others.
For example, diets that are high in grains, nuts,
and vegetables, have a lower carbon footprint
than those that are high in meat,
and they lead to better health outcomes.
- [Narrator] According to the food and agriculture
organization of the United Nations,
animal agriculture is responsible for 14.5%
of global greenhouse gas emissions.
In contrast, a plant-based diet is far more sustainable.
A 2018 Oxford study found that adopting a plant-based diet
is the single biggest way to reduce your carbon footprint.
It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights
or buying an electric car.
Agriculture is a sector that spans all the multitude
of environmental problems.
Really, it is animal products that are responsible
for so much of this,
said Oxford University researcher Joseph Poore.
- 1.3 trillion liters a year of milk
we'll be producing in 2050, or we forecast,
if we don't change trajectory,
are forecast to be producing,
and 500 billion kilograms of meat per year.
And these are staggering numbers.
- [Narrator] Land use could be reduced by more than 75%,
an area equivalent to the US, European Union,
China, and Australia combined,
by removing the meat and dairy industries
while still feeding the growing global population.
The Coronavirus outbreak has shown that we are capable
of reacting quickly to a global health crisis.
Air pollution and carbon dioxide levels in some cities
and regions have dropped significantly since the virus
began impacting travel and social interactions,
according to researchers in New York City.
Similar changes were discovered in China and Italy,
as commuting slowed and more people began
to work from home.
- [Reporter] The reduction of emissions
is particularly visible in northern Italy,
which coincides with its nationwide
lockdown to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.
- [Narrator] Experts estimate that this will bring
China's overall emissions for the year
down by 1%.
Corinne Le Quere, a professor of climate science
at the University of East Anglia
believes we could see an overall reduction in emissions
for the year.
It will depend on how long the pandemic lasts,
and how widespread the slowdown is in the economy,
particularly in the US,
but most likely I think we will see something
in the global emissions this year.
If it lasts another three or four months,
certainly we could see some reduction.
- We've seen with the drastic measures that China
has taken with regard to Corona that emissions
have gone down seriously, so people are working
from home, manufacturing has slowed down,
so these are the kinds of drastic measures
that we will have to take for climate change,
and it's better to do it sooner rather than later
because it'll be more painful the longer we wait.
- [Narrator] But others believe that the reduction
is not a total victory.
"I won't be celebrating if emissions go down
"a percent or two because of the Coronavirus."
Rob Jackson, an environmental scientist
at Stanford University who chairs the Global Carbon Project
told the Los Angeles Times.
"We need sustained declines.
"Not an anomalous year below average."
"New York has had exceptionally high carbon monoxide
"numbers for the last year and a half,"
Professor Roisin Commane from Columbia University
told the BBC, "And this is the cleanest
"I have ever seen it.
"It is less than half of what we normally see in March."
Will the silver lining to the Coronavirus
be an increased awareness about climate change?
What do you think?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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