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WaPo column: Global warming caused COVID-19 – ‘A virus that probably emanated from the destruction of wildlife & habitat and a changing climate’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/30/by-missing-earth-day-mall-we-learned-valuable-lesson/

By Joan Moody – April 30, 2020

Excerpt: A virus that probably emanated from the destruction of wildlife and habitat and a changing climate forced Earth Day 2020 online and most of us to stay home.

The pandemic feels like Mother Earth put us all in “timeout” to think about what we have done. Without us crowding nature, pollution retreats, the skies clear and wildlife ventures into the open. Is this signal that nature does better without our excesses also the lesson of the timeout? We may continue, but not as before.

The pandemic and Earth Day 2020 have proved we are capable of collective action to solve our problems. But we need a new “normal” on the environmental front, and we need it fast. The digital world and the wisdom of the young people who thrive in it can help us speed up — and make the next Earth Day on the Mall a true celebration.

 

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