While there are many things we could change going forward as a result of COVID-19, I am choosing to focus on pollution. In order to think about the future we must first look back into the past. The Paris Agreement requires all countries (that choose to take part) to combat climate change in order to keep the global rise in temperature below 2°C a year, as stated on their main website. (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC], 2020). The Paris Agreement aims to reduce climate change through a reduction in a certain amount of pollution, monitored every year in every country that chooses to participate. The United States was a part of this convention up until 2017 when President Trump chose to remove the United States from the agreement. Along with this, other regulations about power plant emissions were undone, causing an increase in pollution which contributes to health problems and climate change (Worland, J. 2017). In order to reduce emissions, industry needs to reduce the amount they pollute and need to monitor how much pollution they are still releasing. It has been found that since 1988, more than half of global industrial emissions can be linked to just 25 producers (Riley, T. 2017). Many of these are fossil fuel companies that contribute heavily to climate change due to their emissions. 

So how does all this matter against our current backdrop of COVID-19? Due to the stay at home order much of the country is under, there has been a noticeable change in pollution and air quality. A notable occurrence is that of Los Angeles. The city has had its longest string of consecutive days with good air quality since 1995. People were staying home and thus off the roads, causing the increase in air quality for Los Angeles due to lack of emissions from cars (Kann, D. 2020). COVID-19 is showing us that if we make small changes in the amount we pollute the world can still flourish instead of being harmed by pollution. The world is capable of making a comeback from COVID-19 and from pollution-induced climate change. But how should we change the way we live? For individuals the classic ways to reduce pollution–carpooling or taking public transit, recycling–can be useful, but together we need to push that limits be set on the amounts industries are allowed to pollute. We need our officials in office to demand big industries pollute less in the first place, offer incentives for reductions in pollution, and implement fines for those that go over a set limit. Individuals reducing their personal pollution can help, but the main problem lies in the amount industry pollutes. We’ve seen how fast the world can change if we reduce pollution for a few months, imagine if we could do that forever.

-Madison Gac

Resources

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (2020). The Paris Agreement. Retrieved 3 May 2020, from https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement 

Riley, T. (2017). Just 100 companies responsible for 71% of global emissions, study says. The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change 

Worland, J. (2017). Air Pollution Is Still Killing People in the United States. Times. Retrieved 3 May 2020, from https://time.com/4836660/air-pollution-health-death-epa/ 

Kann, D. (2020). Los Angeles has notoriously polluted air. But right now it has some of the cleanest of any major city. CNN. Retrieved 3 May 2020, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/07/us/los-angeles-pollution-clean-air-coronavirus-trnd/index.html