The Earth Breathes Again

The Covid19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on human lives / activities across the world. Sadly, many of us know people who have lost loved family members: we remember them. Conversely, as humanity suffers, so Mother Nature has had a much-needed reprieve from humankind’s relentless onslaught. The air is cleaner, clearer, purer, fresher. Ditto rivers, lakes, canals. Traffic noises have reduced and once again people are rejoicing in the wonders of hearing birdsong. Post lockdown, as activities pick up, maybe we can all try not to revert to our old frenetic lifestyles of non-stop travelling; down time has been appreciated by many, including children who are learning some of life’s skills and pleasures (e.g. cooking, gardening, reading). The climate change problems we faced before the pandemic haven’t gone away and still need addressing. We’ve shown that reducing human activities reduces pollution, emissions etc., so it is incumbent on us all to continue to cut back on our patterns of wasteful consumption – don’t buy what we don’t need, don’t travel when we don’t need to travel, consider holidaying in Ireland rather than abroad, reduce hugely the number of flights taken. Buy as much local produce as possible (while also benefitting our economy). Think environment!