China solves its pollution problem...?

While this obviously shouldn't be taken to mean that China has somehow miraculously come out of the woods regarding its massive pollution problem, the following map, just published by NASA and the European Space Agency, shows the radical diminution of atmospheric pollution over China thanks to the forced reduction of human activity precipitated by the COVID-19 scare. Below are two before-and-after maps showing relative concentrations of nitrogen dioxide. Behold and marvel (and note how polluted Seoul is, off to the east):

As I stated above, this shouldn't be taken to mean that China has miraculously solved its pollution problem: nitrogen dioxide is only one of many indicators of atmospheric pollution. However, one lesson that can be taken from this is that nature does tend to reassert itself, given the chance, and it does so quickly. This means that wild-eyed environmentalists are probably very wrong in their dire predictions about a coming climate apocalypse: the earth is, as the environmental saint George Carlin pointed out years ago, a self-correcting system. Think of it this way: if the earth's overall climate is like a huge, rushing river, then the effect of five guys pissing into it is pretty negligible. Even a hundred guys pissing into the river can't do the river much damage. The river constantly—and instantly—reasserts itself.

At the same time, the above map indicates that good results are possible only through a massive effort. This is no time to sit on one's laurels. And besides, it's a bit morbid to say, "Hey, look on the bright side: thousands of people may be dying of respiratory illness, but we're polluting less!" We should also keep in mind that the plastic clogging so many rivers in Asia won't disappear just because people are befouling the air less. Some forms of pollution are far harder to eliminate than atmospheric pollution. Despite the good news about air quality, no one is in the clear. (Again, look at Seoul, where human activity continues apace.)

By the way, if you haven't watched the Dr. John Campbell video yet, be aware that Dr. Campbell notes that people who need to take especial care are those with metabolic difficulties like diabetes (my tribe) as well as those with respiratory conditions like COPD (John Mac's tribe). In a word, everyone needs to take care.