God and Nature Summer 2020
COVID-19 and Climate Change: In God’s and Our Hands |
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By Paul H. Carr
COVID-19 and climate change have much in common: they impact the whole world. As the words in the African American spiritual say, “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” As we are God’s created co-creators, the world is also in our hands. God is revealed through science’s natural laws, and understanding them enables us to formulate appropriate actions implemented through local and global governments. How do we actively love our global neighbors?
If we wait until there is a crisis, it will be too late. For both COVID-19 and climate change, acting now saves both lives and our economy.
When COVID-19 appeared in New York, Governor Cuomo was hesitant to close schools because of the nutritional needs of vulnerable low-income children. As the number of COVID-19 cases increased, he ordered everyone to stay at home. In contrast, when Taiwan identified the first coronavirus cases, they quarantined the individuals and did contact tracing. Everyone wore face masks. As of the date of this writing, the State of New York has had 30,000 deaths, which is 1556 deaths per million population. In comparison, Taiwan had only 7 deaths, with 0.3 deaths per million.
The negative impacts of climate change will be with us a hundred times longer than those of COVID-19. Months after New York’s stay-at-home order, the COVID-19 death rate decreased. Vaccines should be available in a year or so. The response time for climate change can be as long as a century, which is the lifetime of the increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere that is warming our planet.
James Hansen, with eighteen international co-authors, predicted in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (2016) that sea levels could rise exponentially up to twelve feet from 2050 to 2058. Most of the water is coming from the Antarctic and Greenlandic glaciers that are melting more rapidly. A twelve-foot worldwide rise in sea levels would be a major humanitarian and economic crisis, as forty percent of the world’s population live near seacoasts. When this happens, the world will most likely undertake emergency programs for eliminating greenhouse gas emissions to stop global warming, and a program will be needed to remove CO2 from the Earth’s atmosphere. But it is more efficient to remove the high concentrations of CO2 from the local emissions of coal- and gas-fired plants now than to remove them from the global atmosphere later.
To create an economic incentive to reduce carbon emissions now, we in the United States must pass the bipartisan Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 763, www.CitizensClimateLobby.org). A carbon emission fee would be levied at the source of emission. The resulting dividend, payable to every household, would stimulate the economy and create millions of jobs.
We need to deploy non-carbon emitting sources of electricity now. A recent MIT study concluded that a nuclear buildup could completely de-carbonize electricity generation in thirty years. While wind and solar energy are important green sources, to make them available 24/7 would come with very high storage costs, raising energy prices up to a factor of four. Mass-produced small, modular nuclear reactors could fill the gap and reduce costs.
In addition, we can immediately reduce an important source of greenhouse emissions, methane produced by farm animals, by eating a more plant-based diet.
Let’s remember, “A stitch in time saves nine.” Acting now saves lives and money.
You can find more data at https://www.slideshare.net/paulhcarr/c0vid19-and-climate
Paul H Carr, PhD, IEEE Life Fellow, led a branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory that developed the surface acoustic wave (SAW) components used in radar and cell phones. The John Templeton Foundation awarded him a grant for the philosophy course he taught at U Mass Lowell. This inspired his book "Beauty in Science and Spirit." He has debated issues related to global warming and published over 80 refereed articles. His web page is www.MirrorOfNature.org.
COVID-19 and climate change have much in common: they impact the whole world. As the words in the African American spiritual say, “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” As we are God’s created co-creators, the world is also in our hands. God is revealed through science’s natural laws, and understanding them enables us to formulate appropriate actions implemented through local and global governments. How do we actively love our global neighbors?
If we wait until there is a crisis, it will be too late. For both COVID-19 and climate change, acting now saves both lives and our economy.
When COVID-19 appeared in New York, Governor Cuomo was hesitant to close schools because of the nutritional needs of vulnerable low-income children. As the number of COVID-19 cases increased, he ordered everyone to stay at home. In contrast, when Taiwan identified the first coronavirus cases, they quarantined the individuals and did contact tracing. Everyone wore face masks. As of the date of this writing, the State of New York has had 30,000 deaths, which is 1556 deaths per million population. In comparison, Taiwan had only 7 deaths, with 0.3 deaths per million.
The negative impacts of climate change will be with us a hundred times longer than those of COVID-19. Months after New York’s stay-at-home order, the COVID-19 death rate decreased. Vaccines should be available in a year or so. The response time for climate change can be as long as a century, which is the lifetime of the increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere that is warming our planet.
James Hansen, with eighteen international co-authors, predicted in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (2016) that sea levels could rise exponentially up to twelve feet from 2050 to 2058. Most of the water is coming from the Antarctic and Greenlandic glaciers that are melting more rapidly. A twelve-foot worldwide rise in sea levels would be a major humanitarian and economic crisis, as forty percent of the world’s population live near seacoasts. When this happens, the world will most likely undertake emergency programs for eliminating greenhouse gas emissions to stop global warming, and a program will be needed to remove CO2 from the Earth’s atmosphere. But it is more efficient to remove the high concentrations of CO2 from the local emissions of coal- and gas-fired plants now than to remove them from the global atmosphere later.
To create an economic incentive to reduce carbon emissions now, we in the United States must pass the bipartisan Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 763, www.CitizensClimateLobby.org). A carbon emission fee would be levied at the source of emission. The resulting dividend, payable to every household, would stimulate the economy and create millions of jobs.
We need to deploy non-carbon emitting sources of electricity now. A recent MIT study concluded that a nuclear buildup could completely de-carbonize electricity generation in thirty years. While wind and solar energy are important green sources, to make them available 24/7 would come with very high storage costs, raising energy prices up to a factor of four. Mass-produced small, modular nuclear reactors could fill the gap and reduce costs.
In addition, we can immediately reduce an important source of greenhouse emissions, methane produced by farm animals, by eating a more plant-based diet.
Let’s remember, “A stitch in time saves nine.” Acting now saves lives and money.
You can find more data at https://www.slideshare.net/paulhcarr/c0vid19-and-climate
Paul H Carr, PhD, IEEE Life Fellow, led a branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory that developed the surface acoustic wave (SAW) components used in radar and cell phones. The John Templeton Foundation awarded him a grant for the philosophy course he taught at U Mass Lowell. This inspired his book "Beauty in Science and Spirit." He has debated issues related to global warming and published over 80 refereed articles. His web page is www.MirrorOfNature.org.