14 March 2020: I woke up to an email from the CEO of our company that he had sent to the entire organisation. The content of the email was not very surprising. It, among other concerns asked all the employees to work from home, globally. This request was part of a measure taken by various organisations to curtail the spread of COVID-19. Recently declared a pandemic by the WHO. It was like Thanos had snapped his fingers after all.
I’m amazed and impressed at the pace at which governments and organisations across the globe were acting to save human life. Travel restrictions including suspension of Visa and cancellation of flights, lockdowns of entire cities, shut down of schools and various public places.
Not long ago did the central government roll back its plan to ban single use plastic because it would hamper businesses. It is very clear what our priorities are.
It all began in China, the hub of manufacturing; the epicenter of the outbreak of the latest virus scare. Entire supply chains around the world were brokendown as China went about its fight against the virus. The scale of the clampdown shook the world economies, no stock market was immune to this.
What perplexes me is, why do we not show the same intent and conviction when it comes to climate change? Isn’t that a bigger threat to both humankind and the world in a much more bigger scale? Why are we and our governments resistive to changes that would improve the air we breathe and the water we drink? The fight against climate change would not only save humankind but also the billions of lifeforms on the planet.
I’m secretly thankful to Covid-19 for forcing humanity to slow down a bit and take a deep breath and look around. It has forced a reduction in burning of fossil fuels. Forced closure of offices and factories resulting in major reduction in usage of air conditioning.
Even if the arctic ice can stay longer for a week, it may give the mother of a young polar bear enough ice to stand upon and hunt food for her young cubs before the winter sets in. One week of ice is all that matters for the family to live through the most fragile days of a young bear cub’s life.
If nothing else, the outbreak has shown that each one of us is connected by our actions. How else do we explain that an infection that started in one corner of the world has shaken the population of the entire planet. No matter how small, our efforts to fight climate change will not go wasted.
Ours was just one organisation, many organisations across three nation and across the globe were doing their bit to stop the spread of the virus. Just a day ago, the local government here passed an order declaring holidays to all schools, restricting social gatherings, shutting down malls and tourist places and also asking offices to allow work from home to their employees. Just imagine the scale of efforts taken by all corporations and governments everywhere.
My only hope is that the fear of sudden death also wakes us up to the inevitability of the slow death we’re bringing upon us in the form of climate change.
santossuren 
Heat slow death has not yet touched the border of human fear yet… hope we human as a whole wake up soon… good write up Santosh…
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