I think that everyone is agreed that 2020 is not a great year. COVID-19 is still causing havoc. Mismanagement of the crisis has resulted in many deaths in countries like the US and UK that ought to do better. It is looking like many more will die in Brazil, India and other countries. Even when we get a vaccine it will take time to get it to all who need it. It is a shame some leaders are still in denial about the scale of the problem. Yesterday's explosion in Beirut is also tragic. It looks to be an accident, but they will still need help to recover.
I try to find good news amongst all this. The first I saw today was that lots of extra penguin colonies have been found in Antarctica using satellite images. Basically they can see the guano stains on the ice. This means there are more penguins than previously thought, but they are still vulnerable as emperer pengiun breed on sea ice, which is likely to break up or melt as the world warms.
Image from Pixabay
To reduce global warming we need changes in how we use and generate energy. Wind energy has great potential to help with that. The UK is one of the biggest users of offshore wind with some big windfarms around the coast and more being built. A new report predicts that capacity could go up eightfold in the next decade. China may be a big part of that. Of course we have to take into account that China has also built a lot of coal power stations at home and abroad as part of their Belt and Road initiative. Massive use of concrete is energy intensive.
The pandemic lockdown led to less road and air traffic, but it is likely those will bounce back, even if some airlines go bust. Lots more people may be able to work from home in future and that may help, but we have to be thinking about development that is sustainable. We live on a finite planet that we seem keen to destroy in the name of 'progress'. We need leaders brave enough to make the difficult decisions that will allow us to have decent quality of life in the long term. The increase in nationalist leaders is not helping. They need to think bigger than just within their borders.
We can still keep acting as individuals. Millions of people using and travelling less has an impact. You can still support businesses, but be more choosy about what you buy and who from. No business has an automatic right to survive and we have some say with our purchasing power.
Live well and stay well.