Closer to the edge

As the power of nature takes over us yet again, we’re hoarding tissues that might wipe our mains clean but not our ignorance. While we drilled to boast our military power, we now struggle to merely choose which lives to save. The world urges for social exclusion, and yet we hold ‘awareness’ marches and mass congregations.

While we fantasize and rely on techno salvation, we are reselling used masks. We wonder about the unprecedented growth of this virus, albeit we devour more animals. Some advice the activists of climate change to hire corona’s publicist, and yet continue to stock up plastic. The homo sapiens (wise ones) as we like to call ourselves, clear up land in search of greener pastures, but end up being vulnerable to these viruses always in search of a new species of host. Are we really the most successful species on Earth? We might be, but definitely not the most humane one. We now know that Corona conquers white supremacy, and gains traction as it enters royalty or the wives of global leaders for that matter.

All being said, the emerging scenario is paving an alternate reality. The global carbon emissions have gone down and people can finally breathe. Whether it’s brushing teeth or listening to Fleetwood Mac, the overdependence on Chinese imports might decrease. With less access, people are probing their conscience and asking themselves if they really needed that extra pair of socks.

JSTOR and Scribd are open access now. With all grand slam tournaments slashed, Roger Federer’s all-time record stands corrected. The jobs and meetings that we were told couldn’t be done remotely are virtually possible. More time at home means better communication, and potentially higher productivity as some acquire a new skill, while others render those unfinished tasks. Although people are stress eating, at-least we’re eating at home that might lead to lower obesity overtime. With toilet paper’s demand-supply distorted, the west is finally considering Muslim showers. The world cinema won’t get to witness the release of yet another Fast and Furious. And the wild population growth might be subsiding for now, although the newfound time at homes might turn the tables.

Interestingly, the high incidence of this virus might be offset by pollution reduction that may save more lives from the improving air quality, than are threatened by the virus itself. According to the WHO, the global toll of premature deaths due to air pollution stands at 7 million per year.

The industrial and vehicular emissions, indoor pollution, and the smog hanging over our cities, results in a higher mortality rate from respiratory and cardiovascular infections, heart diseases, strokes, and lung cancer. With air comes water, and new guidelines of washing our hands for twenty seconds shouldn’t mean twenty seconds of running water. We need to constantly remind each other that in the midst of one global crisis, we shouldn’t worsen another. Limiting contagion requires behavioral change. It resides on system change, where a human choice has zero social costs and where norms such as illegal wildlife trade is banned indefinitely, as it was after all a bat that led to this fiasco.

Hashim Zaman

hashimzaman1@gmail.com

The writer is an Environmental Economist based in Islamabad