Thoughts on Connections Between COVID-19 Pandemic And Climate Crisis
Abstract
In 2018 I retired from my active clinical and academic roles to devote my remaining professional time to work on the mental health and public health impacts of the climate crisis. I am driven by my concerns about the fate of the planet and all its inhabitants, including my precious granddaughter and the generations that will follow her.
Among the activities in which I have engaged are curating and editing the monthly column and other articles on climate change and mental health for psychiatric news. During that time, we have covered a wide array of topics, including the impacts of heat and air pollution, eco-anxiety, the importance of divesting from fossil fuels, and the impacts on children. These and many other related issues are important for all mental health professionals to understand and absorb into their professional and personal lives. Although things have changed dramatically in the last few months and we are all affected, the reality of the climate crisis is no less important; in fact, it looms even larger.
We are now challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic and the catastrophic impacts it is having on all aspects of our society. I have been struck by the palpable and compelling connections and parallels between these twin crises. I have drawn upon the ideas of Daniel Kammen, director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at UC Berkeley, and Thomas Friedman’s March 31 New York Times op-ed to augment my ideas about the relevance of COVID-19 to the climate crisis.
Climate Change Facilitates Infectious Disease Outbreaks
Especially notable are vectors, such as mosquitos and bats, that may be more virulent in relation to elevated temperatures, not to mention centuries-old pathogens that may be released from thawing permafrost. Increased global temperatures cause some vectors to move farther north, thus exposing areas previously not at risk. Major infectious disease outbreaks are predicted to become more prevalent as environmental conditions deteriorate and global travel and trade expand.
Many Societal Systems Are Ill Prepared to Address Such Crises
There is no substitute for preparation, without which much time is lost trying to catch up to the problem.
Supply chains are vulnerable and easily damaged and disrupted, thus damaging the economy as well as interfering with the more timely and effective responses to disasters.
Tipping points happen quickly. Although climate change is a slow-moving disaster, some events—for example, wildfires and hurricanes—can lead to major and vast changes. As Thomas Friedman urges, you should manage the unavoidable so that you can avoid the unmanageable.
We are only as resilient as the most vulnerable. Income inequality, social exclusion, and other social determinants of health undermine efforts to promote healthy and resilient communities.
Many disaster movies begin with the government ignoring a scientist. The current dramatic gap in the number of scientists in government positions compared with past administrations is proving to be a major handicap in the response to the pandemic.
Not having a social cost for carbon leads to further and faster weakening of the environment, leading to more calamitous events, for example, infectious disease outbreaks, hurricanes, wildfires, sea level rise, and mass migration.
We are now seeing (and will continue to see) hospital and public health system capacity extremely challenged due to patient surges. The limitations on responsiveness to increased demand for various health services, and the potential collapse of the American health care system, can be easily imagined to apply to many of the health impacts from acute extreme weather events as well as heat waves, mass migration, and future climate facilitated infectious disease outbreaks. The current pandemic is one of a number of preambles to the more severe consequences of global warming and its inexorable trajectory.
Pandemic Has Economic Impacts
As is occurring with COVID, the widespread shutdown of local, national, and global economies will have long-lasting impacts. Some of these impacts may be actually aligned with what is needed to combat, prevent, and mitigate the climate crisis through, for example, reduced use of fossil fuels and overall consumption (including consumption of meat and less essential consumer products and packaging), but it is also necessary to address the impacts on people working in those areas of the economy. We must consider shifting to a more sustainable 21st century economic system that is predicated less on unlimited profits and perpetual growth and directed more to stabilizing the economy to meet human and environmental needs. Thomas Friedman notes that Mother Nature, which is simply chemistry, biology, and physics, trumps everything else, including the forces of humanity that are driven by greed. In other words, long-term vision should outweigh short-term profits. We should take care of the conditions that enable us to prosper, that is, not destroying our environment, so we will actually prosper in the end.
Coordinated and Comprehensive Responses Are Required
International collaboration is necessary to address major problems. Many nations are recognizing the need to collaborate and engage in mutual assistance through health, social service, and economic initiatives to address the pandemic. When the degree of urgency is finally recognized and acknowledged on a global basis, international collaboration should be a major part of addressing the climate crisis.
The United States must enact broad reforms and reinvestment in the future well-being of its people and systems. Friedman asserts that “as we invest in infrastructure to stimulate our economy out of this corona crisis, we should be doing it to make our society more resilient against both pandemics and climate change.” In the United States, the next stimulus package from Congress must address components of the Green New Deal, including just transitions for those working in fossil fuel industries to nonpolluting employment, promotion of green technology in the form of alternative energy production and transportation methods that are more accessible to all income groups, and the development of regional partnerships for clean energy systems. The health system also clearly needs dramatic reforms to be better prepared for crises as well as the regular provision of health services. The health system must provide universal access; Medicare for All may be one of the options. The mental health needs associated with the COVID pandemic and with the climate crisis are only beginning to be seen and understood. They will be among the most enduring problems to be addressed, even after the immediate impacts of the various disasters are resolving. Any new stimulus packages must include sufficient funding for mental health services and community resilience preparation.
Just as health care workers are demonstrating in their heroic work to combat the current health crisis, our collective societies must respond wisely and selflessly, because the future is already here. ■
