Some Heartfelt Thoughts From Mother Earth
My dearest children:
Mother Earth here, writing you a note of dire concern. For those of you currently in your 60’s and 70’s who spent your young adult years in Berkeley, you know me as a one-time 60’s rock group of the same name, which was fronted by the phenomenally electric Tracy Nelson.
For the rest of you, I am both the voice and the symbol of all that is ecologically meaningful. I represent both the ancient Sequoia trees of Northern California and Lake Zasan, the oldest lake on earth; the Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains, the oldest mountain range on the planet, and the Jack Hills Zircon, the oldest rock on earth. Indeed, we are a relatively ancient planet (regardless of what anti-science Luddites proclaim) with much to revel in. And yet, we are in dire, dire trouble; our continued existence as a habitable orb, to say the very least, is in grave danger.
My children: I am just as depressed and disillusioned as the best of you. There are so many challenges on the horizon: the Covid-19 pandemic, planet-wide economic chaos, violence, increasing incivility, a startling loss of leadership and . . . to top it off . . . the beginning of the hurricane season here the Southern United States, forest fires in the West and drought in places which have not experienced rain for years and years. Not only that, but in many places around the planet, you have isolated yourselves from one another . . . and for good reason.
Has it ever dawned on you that as angry, uncertain and depressed as you are because of current conditions, I, Mother Earth, am going through pretty much the same concatenation of emotions? The only real difference between all of you and me is that my “circle of family, friends and acquaintances” is far, far larger and more all-encompassing than yours? I mean, have you any idea of what it’s like to be mother to a 280-foot tall, 2,000 year old sequoia (the “General Sherman”) or Elkhorn Coral (which aren't plants, but rather actually colonies of tiny living invertebrates called polyps) and have been around in Florida and the Caribbean for more than 5,000 years? Talk about long lasting relationships! And just like you, they - and thousands upon thousands of other long-lived creatures - are suffering.
But believe it or not, I am by no means a pessimist. We all know the old saw that the difference between an optimist and a pessimist is that the former sees the glass as being half-full, while the latter sees it as being half empty. As your Mother Earth, I’m here to tell you that there is a third way: to understand that so long as there’s something . . . anything . . . in the glass is reason for carrying on . . . neither optimist nor pessimist, but worker.
Believe it or not, the Corona Virus, which has caused so much death, destruction, angst, fear and economic havoc in your realm, may also be doing more than its share of good in mine. “How’s that?” you ask. Well, let’s take a few moments and view the situation from my wide-angle point of view.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic is first and foremost of human health and safety, it has forced people to change their everyday behaviors and patterns to contain or avoid the virus. As a result, there have been some subtle effects on the environment. According to a report published by BBC News, “No war, no recession, no previous pandemic has had such a dramatic impact on emissions of CO2 over the past century as Covid-19 has in a few short months. Multiple sources indicate we are now living through an unrivaled drop in carbon output.”
Shortly after Italy began its draconian shutdown (in mid March) it was noted that in Venice, the often murky canals began to get clearer, with fish visible in the water below. Italy's efforts to limit the coronavirus meant an absence of boat traffic on the city's famous waterways. And the changes happened quickly.
Countries that have been under stringent lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus have experienced an unintended benefit. The outbreak has, at least in part, been contributing to a noticeable drop in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in some countries.
Although grim, it's something scientists said could offer tough lessons for how to prepare — and ideally avoid — the most destructive impacts of climate change. NASA recently released satellite data of the northeastern U.S., revealing a 30% drop in air pollution over densely populated metropolitan areas. Nitrogen dioxide from transportation fossil fuels and electricity generation shows that March 2020 had the lowest emission levels on record since 2005. And by the way, some non-human species are beginning to show benefit from the many changes caused by our response to the pandemic. Leatherback sea turtles, as but one example, are among the many species enjoying the extra space ceded by humans. Beaches in Thailand with a dearth of human tourists are now seeing the highest number of the rare reptiles' nests in two decades. Then too other species, long used to being fed by human tourists, are taking back public squares in deserted downtown areas in search for food.
And while I certainly wish I could tell all of you that the sequelae of the Covid-19 shutdown will include a cleaner, healthier more vibrant earth and the revival of many on-the-road-to-extinction species, sadly I cannot. While it is definitely provable that pollution and greenhouse gas emissions have decreased across the globe, no one knows how long it will last. Much depends on how governments, businesses and citizens of every station and stripe do with that which we are learning every day.
Stay healthy, stay humble, stay kind and do try to stay home.
With abundant love,
Mother Earth
154 days until November 3 . . .
Copyright©2020 Kurt F. Stone