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I have been one of the lucky ones - I am still working as I did before and so have not had the terrible financial worries that many are suffering. I feel bad for all the cafe, restaurant, retail and other workers that I see waiting outside the Centrelink office just around the corner from my place.
One of the things I have noticed is the sky - I can see the coast of Newcastle from my balcony, and the sky has gone from choking, smoke-filled haze during the bushfires, to slowly becoming more clear than I have ever seen it. I suppose this is due to the lack of traffic in nearby Sydney as well as some slow down of industry. Even my brief local drives to work have been so much easier, and buses are quicker with less traffic.
I think about the return of the smog when this is over, and how much attention we will pay to the changes that happened during COVID19 in this way. There also seem to be more of some birds, like crows, in the area, and I have been reading and watching news about the return of wildlife to other parts of the world, including some formerly polluted waterways.
I wonder how much effort people would be willing to make in order to have this changes be permanent, and how much difference it would make to the world in the long run.
The pattern of effect of COVID19 seems clear, as I follow the news every day. Countries where people were more looked after prior to the pandemic are coping better. Places where there was less money or disposition to care for all parts of society have fared much worse. This is something I hope will not be lost on us.
One of the things I have noticed is the sky - I can see the coast of Newcastle from my balcony, and the sky has gone from choking, smoke-filled haze during the bushfires, to slowly becoming more clear than I have ever seen it. I suppose this is due to the lack of traffic in nearby Sydney as well as some slow down of industry. Even my brief local drives to work have been so much easier, and buses are quicker with less traffic.
I think about the return of the smog when this is over, and how much attention we will pay to the changes that happened during COVID19 in this way. There also seem to be more of some birds, like crows, in the area, and I have been reading and watching news about the return of wildlife to other parts of the world, including some formerly polluted waterways.
I wonder how much effort people would be willing to make in order to have this changes be permanent, and how much difference it would make to the world in the long run.
The pattern of effect of COVID19 seems clear, as I follow the news every day. Countries where people were more looked after prior to the pandemic are coping better. Places where there was less money or disposition to care for all parts of society have fared much worse. This is something I hope will not be lost on us.