The A-Z blogging challenge is quite straightforward, blog everyday in April, except Sundays, with subjects that follow the alphabet. It’s all a bit of fun. My subject is ‘A month in lock down’.
W is for world, you know, the place where we live. We humans are arrogant in that we think the world revolves around us, not literally but that we are the only thing that is important. The outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent actions have shown that the world is capable of carrying on well enough without us.
Where human activity has been curtailed, nature has stepped in. Deer have been walking the streets of Paris, goats have come down from the mountains and wander around Llandudno, sheep have made a visit to McDonald’s while (if true) dolphins have been seen swimming in the canals of Venice (it is only since the lockdown that anything can be seen in the canals). There are even more birds in my garden!
The amount of traffic has dropped considerably and the previously constant background hum of cars on nearby roads has all but disappeared. I haven’t seen a plane in the sky for weeks and I read that all of this has led to a 45% reduction in air pollutants.
The way that nature has bounced back is an upside to the pandemic and must give us some hope that we can emerge into a world that is cleaner and less polluting. This has to be good for both us and the other species we share the planet with.
Strong government action can be taken to save humanity from a virus and so strong action can be taken to save humanity from its own filthy habits. There is no excuse now that it can’t be done, it will just take a concerted and collaborative global effort. Perhaps we will end up with a real World Health Organisation.
Be in no doubt though, when humans have left the face of the earth, others will take over and in a thousand years or so most traces of our existence will be gone forever.
Stay safe.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 