No one wants to think of one crisis in the middle of another, but it’s exactly now, when we see first hand how quickly things can change, that it’s time to think about crisis preparedness in general. As the coronavirus pandemic unfolds, the work of climate activists can help us respond to this moment - just as this moment is a critical learning period for future climate crises.
A recent New York Times headline expresses what climate activists know all too well: “Before Virus Outbreak, a Cascade of Warnings Went Unheeded.” And because we don’t heed such warnings we’ll see increasing large-scale social crises: pandemics; mass displacements due to flooding, fires and droughts; social upheaval; and economic fallout. All these are more likely in an age of climate change and ecological breakdown.
This pandemic reminds us that life can change quickly in almost unimaginable ways.
