2020 lessons

If 2020 was a scholar instead of a time increment, perhaps we would do a better job of listening. Mother Earth has been providing hints that the industrialized world has ignored for decades; now we are getting pummeled into listening and hopefully into taking action.

The first 2020 reminder, despite the United States and other countries moving toward “nationalistic” tendencies, was that the Earth is one entity. Borders are arbitrary. The rapid spread of COVID-19 has tragically proven how connected we truly are. A second lesson reinforces our connectivity as wildfires up and down the West Coast have resulted in unhealthy air quality, which, as of this writing, has made its way to Europe.

We can argue over the causes of the pandemic, forest fires, the “once in a hundred years” weather events that are now occurring regularly. But why argue? Whether you want to attribute it to the action of man or not, you can see, touch, smell and quantify the changes. Now the question is, how do we get past our differences and come together to save the planet, save our Democracy, save the species before it’s too late.

Katherine Schutte

Newport