The pandemic's lesson on climate change
As Gov. Pritzker announced our move to Phase 3 reopenings, I allowed myself a moment of hope for all who are suffering in this COVID-19 economy. As the governor praised Illinoisans for cooperating with state restrictions in order to get us to this point, I realized that we will need to cooperate like that again to fight climate change.
Though it will be a long, hard fight to overcome the coronavirus, our economy will eventually rebound ... but the outlook for our climate is different. We only have about 11 years before we see permanent changes we literally will not be able to live with. The human body cannot sustain normal outdoor activities at a heat index above 132 degrees (temperature plus humidity) and the journal Science Advances has just found that places in Pakistan, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have already surpassed that maximum at times.
Even cities on our own Gulf Coast, like New Orleans and Biloxi, are sometimes seeing heat index extremes of 125 degrees. Once we start seeing more places where the temperature is too hot for humans to live, we will see mass migrations and competition for resources and livable land. That could lead to a tragedy that can't be alleviated by a lockdown or potential vaccine.
We did not expect the speed or severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope we will listen to science and cooperate again so we are not similarly blindsided by climate change.
Karen Campbell