In the midst of a global pandemic crisis, the governments of the world are taking drastic action to stop the spread of COVID-19. Mandatory lockdowns, the closure of international borders, rapid assembling of makeshift hospitals and treatment centers, mass testing and an international race to develop both a cure and a vaccine are just a few examples of the sense of urgency this virus has brought to nearly every nation on Earth.

While some countries have been criticized or praised for different types of responses in handling the pandemic, there is one fact that most of the world can agree upon: that COVID-19 is a dire threat that must be prioritized and taken seriously. Watching world leaders and global institutions drop everything to address this problem raises the question: could the same effort be put forth to address climate change? The evidence seems to suggest that the answer is yes, but a lacking sense of immediacy has prevented the world from taking serious action. 

Because the effects of climate change seem “far away” in some vague and distant future, many people struggle to see its urgency. But the reality is that climate change is already creating refugees, causing human suffering and death, and increasing conflict around the world- just not in the West, where the world’s political power is concentrated.

“Climate change refugee” is a recently coined term that refers to people who must flee their homeland due to climate-related disasters. The Global Compact on Refugees, developed by the United Nations in 2018, states that “climate, environmental degradation, and natural disasters increasingly interact with the drivers of refugee movements.” Droughts can plague developing countries, wiping out crops, farmed animals, and drinkable water. As the planet’s overall temperature increases, the atmosphere is able to retain more moisture, causing an increase in the frequency and severity of deadly storms and flooding. A 2008 report by the United Nations Development Program projected that a global temperature rise of 3-4% could displace up to 330 million people through flooding alone. 

Two small low-lying Pacific archipelago islands, Tuvalu and Kiribati (both about fifteen feet above sea level) are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels, with small amounts of land and homes on the islands already having been destroyed. It is thought that within a few decades, the people who inhabit these islands will have to say goodbye to their way of life and seek out new homes. 

A study published by the World Health Organization and the University of Wisconsin at Madison concluded that climate change is already responsible for the deaths of an estimated 150,000 people every year- and these numbers are projected to double by 2030. If these numbers are accurate, this means that climate change already kills far more people every single year than COVID-19 has in all of its entirety. Yet politicians continue to downplay and belittle this issue- some downright denying its very existence. 

The actions of global governments in the past months have proven that human life has inherent value far greater than any amount of profit or monetary number. If the entire world’s economy can be shut down to halt the spread of a pandemic, can it not be transformed to save the lives of our planet’s predecessors? The answer is yes, it can: but the greed and shortsightedness of corporations and politicians are obstructing the way forward. If humanity could see that the destruction of our planet is every bit as great of a threat as the current pandemic is, we could still save ourselves.