The Year of Climate Action and Quarantine

During quarantine, I look for every chance to be outside. During the fifteen-minute break I have between online classes, I try to get outside; I exercise and spend time with my mother outside. Right now, all we have is our home and the outdoors. We are seeing how important it is to take care of our homes. Our earth needs care too. 

Greta Thunberg is a young climate advocate. She believes cutting all carbon emissions in half in 10 years is not sufficient. The technology to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide on the necessary scale does not yet exist. There is only a 50% chance that we will avoid the deadly consequences of a 1.5 degrees Celsius warming over pre-industrial times. On behalf of all of the youth, Greta proclaims, “a 50% risk is simply not acceptable to us — we who have to live with the consequences.”

Reading Greta’s inspiring speech at the U.N Climate Action Summit reminded me of two things: One, even if we are divided as a community, we can still band together to help the one thing we all share, our earth. Two, in order to stay safe, we need 100% of our community to quarantine. Repeating Greta’s powerful words, “a 50% risk is simply not acceptable to us — we who have to live with the consequences” of failing to control the coronavirus. 

If you are interested in Gretta’s Speech, there is a transcript on the NPR Website.