大自然：新冠疫情的最新受害者

因迪婭·伯克

Even as birdsong filtered more clearly than ever through the worlds quiet streets this spring， there was a healthy scepticism around the idea that nature was in fact “returning”.

The #WeAreTheVirus hashtag， which early on in the Covid-19 lockdowns noted the natural worlds apparent reset， was quickly repurposed. Users instead added it alongside doctored or nonsensical images to humorously undermine the original memes own anti-humanity and over-simplification： dinosaurs returning to Times Square， cows returning to the sea.

This switch was rooted in a sense that， far from removing environmental challenges， the pandemic may make them even harder to solve.

As one Instagram user put it to me： “Capitalism is the virus that needs to be changed， not humans as a whole.”

And as parts of the world begin to pull themselves out from under the first wave of infections， much of the scepticism surrounding natures apparent recovery now seems justified.

Not only is the Arctic literally on fire， but the pollutants that ravaged our atmosphere before Covid-19 are likely to return with a vengeance as soon as its spread is curbed. Oil demand is set to bounce back in 2021. Airlines have successfully lobbied for an amendment2 to their climate targets. According to the International Energy Agency chief， the world only has six months to stave off3 climate catastrophe.

Biodiversity is also suffering. In Brazil， deforestation has soared during lockdown， with a government minister suggesting the pandemics distraction should be used to increase deregulation. In Kenya， there has been an alarming rise in bushmeat4 and ivory poaching. Even within the UK， badgers may have been saved by a reduction in road use—but birds eggs have been eaten by rats owing to the absence of conservationists to protect them.

Nor do many governments yet seem equipped to meet the challenge. A new report from Britains Committee on Climate Change5， assessing the British governments progress towards its climate goals， finds the government has failed against 14 of 21 sectoral indicators of progress. In the US and China， the rush to rescue their most polluting sectors is not yet pursuing anything like a green stimulus6. And while the EU says it has put fighting climate change at the heart of its Covid-19 recovery plans， its current proposals leave in place existing support for dirty industries.

“A world of clean air and good green jobs is there for the taking7. Theres no guarantee well take that path， though，” Rosie Rogers， head of green recovery at Greenpeace UK， told me. “For all the voices backing a green recovery， the emergence from lockdown could still see us locked further into polluting systems. Were already seeing a rapid bounceback in carbon emissions as public transport remains off limits and car use increases.”

It doesnt have to be this way， however. In last weeks CCC report8， the body urged the UK to “seize the opportunity” for a “green recovery”， such as through bringing forward car bans and raising subsidies for electric alternatives. Around the world， calls for Green New Deals are growing， with governments both under pressure to create and spend money， as well as to tackle rising unemployment. South Korea has already gone some way to taking the plunge9.

Wildlife scientists are also hoping to use data gathered during the lockdowns to quantify humanitys impact on nature better. And among all the painful disruptions the pandemic has brought， there is a small silver lining10 of increased engagement with the natural world—both locally， through visits to parks， and more widely， in the surge in numbers tuning into wildlife cams.

In ways such as these， the lockdowns perhaps bring to mind the words of the Welsh poet William Henry Davies11： “What is this life if， full of care， we have no time to stand and stare.” Yet while coronavirus has given some people more time to pause and appreciate the natural world， it has also highlighted the increasingly urgent need to save it.

今年春天，全球各地的安靜街道上，鳥鳴前所未有地清晰。然而即便如此，對于大自然是否正在“回歸”的看法，我們?nèi)匀挥兴鶓岩?，而這種懷疑合乎情理。

疫情封鎖之初，社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)上“我們才是病毒”的話題標簽論及自然世界顯而易見的復蘇，但是轉(zhuǎn)瞬之間這個標簽下的內(nèi)容卻轉(zhuǎn)變了畫風：人們轉(zhuǎn)而發(fā)布合成的或者荒誕不經(jīng)的圖片，以詼諧方式?jīng)_淡標簽本身反人類、過度簡化的一面——在這些圖片中恐龍重回時代廣場，奶牛回到了大海。

這種轉(zhuǎn)變源于一種觀念：疫情非但沒有消除各種環(huán)境挑戰(zhàn)，反而使其愈發(fā)難以解決。

一位照片墻用戶對我說：“需要變革的病毒是資本主義，不是全人類。”

隨著一部分地區(qū)開始擺脫第一波感染高峰，此時，不少針對“自然環(huán)境明顯好轉(zhuǎn)”的質(zhì)疑現(xiàn)在看來也是有憑有據(jù)的。

北極地帶確確實實地著了火，不僅如此，疫情暴發(fā)前破壞大氣層的各種污染物很有可能一等到疫情得到控制就會卷土重來，且勢頭強勁。2021年的石油需求必定會反彈。航空公司已成功游說修訂了他們的氣候目標。根據(jù)國際能源署署長的觀點，世界只有6個月的時間來避免氣候災(zāi)難。

生物多樣性也正經(jīng)歷劫難。巴西的森林砍伐活動在封鎖期間愈演愈烈，一名部長甚至提出，應(yīng)該趁疫情分散媒體注意力之機更多地放寬采伐管制。在肯尼亞，變本加厲的野生動物獵食和象牙盜獵令人震驚。即便是在英國，獾或許因為道路交通的減少而保下了小命，然而鳥蛋卻因為沒有環(huán)保人士開展保護行動而落入鼠口。

很多政府似乎并未做好準備來應(yīng)對這種挑戰(zhàn)。英國氣候變化委員會近日發(fā)布了一份新報告，評估英國政府氣候目標的進展。報告指出，在全部21項指標中，英國政府有14項未能完成。中美兩國都在急于挽救污染程度最高的經(jīng)濟部門，卻尚未采取行動刺激綠色經(jīng)濟。歐盟宣稱已將應(yīng)對氣候變化置于新冠疫情后經(jīng)濟恢復計劃的核心，然而其當前提案保留了對高污染工業(yè)的現(xiàn)有支持。

“有清新空氣和綠色工作的世界就在眼前，卻沒人能保證我們一定會選擇這條道路。”英國綠色和平組織綠色復蘇部門的負責人羅西·羅杰斯對我說：“盡管有這么多聲音支持綠色復蘇，但在解除封鎖后我們卻有仍可能被進一步禁錮在污染作法中。由于公共交通停運，私家車出行增加，我們已經(jīng)看到碳排放在迅速回升?！?/p>

然而事情本不必如此。上周的氣候變化委員會報告中，委員會敦促英國“抓住機會”來促成“綠色復蘇”，諸如推行汽車禁令，以及提高電動汽車補貼。全球范圍內(nèi)，對“綠色新政”的呼吁與日俱增，而各國政府同時面臨著創(chuàng)造財富和刺激消費的壓力，還要應(yīng)對日益增長的失業(yè)問題。韓國就已經(jīng)為此采取了一些果斷行動。

野生動物學家也希望利用封鎖期間采集的數(shù)據(jù)來量化評估人類對自然的影響。疫情帶來了種種傷痛和破壞，但是也帶來了一線希望：人類與自然界的關(guān)系更加密切——這既包括發(fā)生在我們居住地的行為，比如逛公園，也包括更大范圍的情況，比如通過網(wǎng)絡(luò)攝像頭看野生動物視頻直播的人數(shù)激增。

通過上述這些方式，封鎖或許讓我們想起了威爾士詩人威廉·亨利·戴維斯的詩句：“生命為何物？倘若愁腸滿腹，卻無暇駐足細睹?！毙鹿谝咔闉橐徊糠秩藥砹烁鄷r間，讓他們暫停腳步來欣賞自然界，但也讓我們意識到保護自然的日益緊迫性。 ? ? □

（譯者單位：西南大學含弘學院）