Where the Virus and Climate Intersect
Should Airline Bailouts Come With Conditions? And, Climate as a Threat Multiplier and Airlines are pressing the government this week for billions of dollars in emergency aid as the coronavirus crisis crushes the travel business. With Congress debating how to help the ailing United States economy, decisions like these could have long-term , too. The nations major airlines in government assistance, warning that they could soon go bankrupt otherwise. President Trump has endorsed such an aid package, though the idea may prove contentious. On Wednesday, eight Senate Democrats saying that any aid to airlines (or cruise ships, for that matter) should come with conditions requiring them to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions over time. If we give the airline and cruise industries assistance without requiring them to be better environmental stewards, we would miss a major opportunity to combat climate change and ocean dumping, read the letter, signed by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, along with seven of his colleagues. Air travel has become an increasingly important contributor to global warming. While aviation still accounts for less than 3 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, as tourism and travel expand. And airlines have struggled to clean up their act: In recent years, air traffic in the United States as the rate of fuel-efficiency improvements. Some climate experts point out that lawmakers have plenty of options to change that dynamic if they wish, particularly if taxpayers are being asked to save the industry. One possible model is the 2009 bailout of the auto industry, which nearly collapsed during the financial meltdown a decade ago. The Obama administration rescued GM and Chrysler from bankruptcy but also enacted stricter new fuel-economy rules for cars and light trucks. (More recently, the Trump administration .) Daniel Rutherford, who directs the aviation and marine programs at the International Council on Clean Transportation, for what a climate-friendly bailout of the airlines might look like. Congress could require new efficiency rules or even offer airlines tax breaks to speed up the retirement of older, more polluting aircraft in favor of newer, cleaner models. Or, airlines could be required to publicly report the emissions that result from different itineraries so that travelers can more easily choose less-polluting flights. The focus right now is on saving jobs and preventing a deep recession, and that should be front and center, Mr. Rutherford said. But air travel is eventually going to bounce back after this crisis subsides. And if the industry gets bailed out without any change to the underlying status quo, were going to see emissions continue to rise in the years ahead. Is there a connection between the new coronavirus and climate change? , a climate scientist at Texas Tech and of the federal governments leading climate change report, the , took that pressing question on in a on Monday. She was heading back to Texas from lectures in Ireland and Scotland after the pandemic cut that trip short. She was scheduled for 18 talks and 40 other events over an 11-day visit, but had to fly back five days early. (She has cut her travel to reduce her carbon footprint, so when she does take an international trip, she squeezes in everything she can.) Her first tweet about the possible connection between coronavirus and climate change summed things up nicely: The short answer is, very little, , but the long answer is, everything is related. I spoke with her on Tuesday and she expanded on those thoughts. Some diseases, such as Zika, are spread by animals like mosquitoes and ticks, and can be expected to spread . But its humans who transmit COVID-19. And were already everywhere. She then dug into research showing the ways that climate change can exacerbate the risks associated with viruses and diseases like influenza in general. You might think warmer winters could help, since flu seasons tend to be milder in warmer winters. But, she said, a milder season makes people less inclined to get vaccinated for the next season. The next season may start earlier and be tougher, and great suffering would result. And, she cited suggesting that a warmer climate might . She also looked to a deeper connection between climate change and disease: When we burn fossil fuels for energy, in addition to releasing greenhouse gases, were adding pollution to the air. And research has shown that air pollution kills. A suggests that air pollution . Even worse, air pollution makes people more susceptible to respiratory illness. A look at the SARS epidemic in China in the past found that patients from regions with high air pollution were compared to patients form regions with cleaner air. Thus, Dr. Hahyoe said, climate change is a threat multiplier that makes many of our problems worse. In closing, she made one more connection between this pandemic and the slower-moving catastrophe of climate change. This crisis really brings home what matters to all of us, she told me. What really matters is the same for all of us. Its the health and safety of our friends, our family, our loved ones, our communities, our cities and our country. Thats what the coronavirus pandemic threatens, and thats exactly what climate change does, too. is a climate reporter specializing in policy and technology efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions. At The Times, he has also covered international climate talks and the changing energy landscape in the United States. is a reporter on the climate desk. In nearly two decades at The Times, he has also covered science, law and technology.