#WATWB April 2020 Agents of Environmental Change

Image: APNEWS https://apnews.com/726ff63bb43bdca65e41625b1e223040

Change is such a part of life.  This post looks at environmental change. But it sees it as part of an integral ecology, where physical and social environments are aided to a better life for all, indeed a flourishing.

Welcome to #WATWB We Are the World Blogfest April 2020.  Our co-hosts this month are Eric Lahti,
Susan Scott,
Inderpreet Kaur Uppal
Damyanti Biswas,
Dan Antion.

Please visit their posts and others who bear the #WATWB, and share across your social media platforms.

In the Physical or Natural Environment

We did not ask for the problems that COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has visited upon our world. It is a tremendous challenge for all peoples and is bringing out both the best and worst in humanity.  Some good news is what has happened in nature when we slow down heavy industry awhile and stay at home.  AP news reports

As people across the globe stay home to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, the air has cleaned up, albeit temporarily. Smog stopped choking New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world, and India’s getting views of sights not visible in decades. Nitrogen dioxide pollution in the northeastern United States is down 30%. Rome air pollution levels from mid-March to mid-April were down 49% from a year ago. Stars seem more visible at night.

And

In Adelaide, Australia, police shared a video of a kangaroo hopping around a mostly empty downtown, and a pack of jackals occupied an urban park in Tel Aviv, Israel.

We’re not being invaded. The wildlife has always been there, but many animals are shy, Duke’s Pimm says. They come out when humans stay home.

For sea turtles across the globe, humans have made it difficult to nest on sandy beaches. The turtles need to be undisturbed and emerging hatchlings get confused by beachfront lights, says David Godfrey, executive director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy.

But with lights and people away, this year’s sea turtle nesting so far seems much better from India to Costa Rica to Florida, Godfrey says.

“There’s some silver lining for wildlife in what otherwise is a fairly catastrophic time for humans,” he says.

We didn’t ask for this virus and all its repercussions, especially on some of our non-tech savvy elderly who feel doubly isolated.  But while we hibernate it is good to see some of the natural world rejuvenate.

In the Social Environment

An Australian journalist posted the following on her Twitter account after a book release interview with a former Australian Prime Minister.

“So”, some may say, “that’s a normal day of Twitter at it’s most terrible”.  But, what these posts do is hold up a mirror.  Hopefully it allows us, and the writers engaging in calumny, to see that they are attacking the fabric of a social environment. It is one thing to dislike a review, but another to attack the person and create salacious spin about them.  Calling out nastiness by simply holding it up in a mirror  helps clean up the social environment and is a preparation for further good news. More work in that area can be seen in Ginger Gorman.

That All Life May Flourish

When the good of the natural and social environments is allowed to thrive all may flourish.  This weekend 25-26 April, in my country Australia, and our neighbour, New Zealand, we celebrate Anzac Day, which commemorates losses of valiant lives in Gallipoli, Turkey, 25 April 1915.  It has come to be a day to remember all who have served in conflicts.  In a time where United Nations (UN) agencies are experiencing some moments of scapegoating by some national governments struggling with their stresses, we all remember the work of UN Peacekeeping efforts.

If poems speak to you of the natural environment, then go to the Poetry Foundation for some nature poems, like this one from Mary Oliver, The Waterfall.

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