Kelly Lawrence
Fifth Year Mechanical Engineering

  Coronavirus is, for most people, including myself and my classmates, an unprecedented first in their lives.

We have never experienced anything like this before: sent home to complete the semester online, unable to leave our houses, living in a state of fear and uncertainty about what will happen next. While there is really no way to make this situation positive, the response to COVID-19 has given me some hope for humanity in facing existential crises, including climate change. But we need a clear plan for how to respond, which was what was really lacking across the country and the world as coronavirus spread. If we can use the lessons learned from coronavirus and apply it to climate change on a local and international scale, we would be better equipped to combat global warming and protect people from its dangers.

            Responses to coronavirus were varied across the United States. As a country, we looked on sympathetically as countries like China and Italy faced devastation for several months before we first saw cases spiking here, but we were still unprepared. At least part of this can be attributed to denial of the problem, which despite massive death tolls across the country is still occurring, as evidenced by protestors gathering to push back on scientific fact and demand that lockdowns be lifted so that the economy can recover. If this sounds familiar, it is because it is following the same pattern as climate change denial, though it is unfolding much faster. Science historian Naomi Oreskes lays out this pattern: “First, one denies the problem, then one denies its severity, and then one says it is too difficult or expensive to fix, and/or that the proposed solution threatens our freedom” (Edelman). This pattern has been seen at the national and local level, with President Trump and civilians alike calling for lockdowns to be lifted despite doctors and scientists warning in dire terms of the consequences of doing so, just as climate scientists have warned about the devastating effects of climate change if it is not curbed. This pushback has resulted in different response by the national government, states, cities, and organizations in response to coronavirus, just as these groups have been varied in their responses to climate change.

            University of Cincinnati made the right choice in calling off classes early, when the disease had just begun spreading noticeably in the United States. The response was somewhat muddled as the situation continuously evolved, but given how rapid the progression of changes occurred, this was to be expected. As it became clear that the virus was spreading faster than was originally thought, it was clear that the decision to cancel classes was the right one, but it left a lot of things unclear. For example, less than a month before the summer co-op semester UC announced that it would only accept co-ops that were completed remotely. This left many of us without many options if our employers could not support this. I am still waiting on a response from my employer, but it is a small company whose main customers are non-medical research labs, so I think that remote work is unlikely. I have had trouble getting responses back from advisors to get clarity on the situation which has been frustrating.

            Online classes are different than in-person classes. The interaction between teachers and classmates is lost, even in classes that are live-streamed. It’s a lot harder to retain information for many of the classes because some of my more difficult courses have not translated well to online learning. It’s also hard with the loss of a clear schedule and with it the ability to plan and make schedules for when I am going to get things done. Group projects, which are common considering that it is the end of the semester and final projects are due soon, have become much more difficult to coordinate without the ability to meet with each other in person to work and practice presentations. There is also a noticeable difference between how professors are handling the change. Some are working very hard to keep their classes on track, livestreaming classes and working diligently to help students, and others have checked out for the year or have made up for not being able to have in-person classes by assigning more work. It is the same way for students. It is hard to learn anything under these circumstances. It is hard to say how this will affect our classes long-term. Without a clear end in sight, it is impossible to say with any certainty. Right now, we still have more questions than answers.

            The natural world has benefitted from humans staying home in large numbers. Because people are traveling much less and wasting less food, and processes such as manufacturing and construction have slowed, carbon emissions have dropped (Henriques). There is hope that these habits could be continued after the pandemic to help in the fight against climate change. Conversely, climate change causes such as deforestation, which increases contact between animals and humans, allowing for the spread of pathogens, are potential sources of the pandemic (Bernstein). If action is taken to mitigate climate change, it could reduce the chances of something like coronavirus from happening again.

            Climate change is an international threat, just like coronavirus, and international collaboration will be necessary to reduce carbon emissions. The global economic crash presents an opportunity to “get climate progress back on track. Stimulus packages designed to kick-start economic growth could include funding and policies to accelerate clean energy and climate adaptation projects... The world will certainly be better equipped to face both pandemics and climate catastrophes if nations choose to more readily share resources, expertise, and information” (Temple). While it is still unclear whether global cooperation on this matter will be achieved, institutions such as University of Cincinnati can begin formulating their own action plans to be prepared for the worst-case scenario of climate catastrophy so that their response will be ready as soon as it becomes evident, unlike it was with coronavirus, which had less warning time.

            Cincinnati is not in a high-risk area for natural disasters caused by climate changed, but it is at risk for severe storms and flooding, both of which have increased in the past few years. UC should prepare an extensive evacuation plan in case the university needs to be vacated quickly due to flooding. They should also improve their warning system to include severe storms with flooding risk, because most of the alerts the system sends now are for tornado warnings, and it is not always clear when the threat is coming, just that is present in the area, so students do not always take the alerts seriously. They should also put in place a contingency plan in case classes ever have to be suddenly cancelled again, whether due to a climate disaster or another global pandemic, so that the transition will be smoother and students will feel less like they have lost part of their semester. They should also set more money for an emergency relief fund, because even if climate change does not cause major disasters in Cincinnati, students coming from other places will be affected by increasing disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires and the school should be willing and able to help these students when the need arises. The time to prepare for climate change is now. We should not have to be caught off guard like we were with coronavirus.