Coronavirus: Saving the Planet

Neo discovering he's in the Matrix...

About fifteen years ago I wrote about global dimming.  The basic idea is that the pollution generated by man reduces the temperature of the earth.

This came to light during 9/11 in the US.  All the planes were grounded for several days and, lo and behold, the veil of pollution keeping the earth cool vanished.

And the global warming increased by 1°C (1.8°F) for the duration of the air travel shutdown.

In 2020, in Italy, we observe the same climate effects due to the Coronavirus.

Clearly documented here in Fortune on March 19, 2020 and by Reuters.

The same climate change is true in China (see this).

Now if we look at the death rate attributed to climate change (see this in Scientific American, for example) we see climate change is "... responsible for some 150,000 deaths each year around the world."

So if we could reduce the earth's temperature by 1°C simply by hiding indoors as if the Coronavirus is going to kill us why wouldn't we?

Or, better yet, as Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania has discovered, you simply mandate everyone close their "non-essential" businesses and stay home all our climate woes would be over!

Now imagine, by simple governmental fiat, we can take everyone's rights away in exchange for saving the plant.

Look how wonderful the canal's of Venice look once you get rid of all the people:

From https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/coronavirus-shutdowns-have-unintended-climate-benefits-n1161921

In Pennsylvania we see some 300 cases of Coronavirus as of March 20, 2020 with a single death (see https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/).

This is less than 1/700th of the murders in Pennsylvania each year (documented here), and 1/32,000th of the heart disease deaths.

We cannot take peoples guns, knives or other dangerous implements away but with the Coronavirus with just a single death (at less than 1/700th the murder rate) we can take all your rights away.

I think that's pretty amazing!

So climate change should be solved by simply taking rights away and 150,000 lives would be saved.

Why should you have any rights if 150,000 people could live?

(And let me stress could here because one death is nothing compared to the annual PA death rates...)

After all, we could get the Coronavirus (well, we didn't actually but it's scary so we can pretend its real...)

This is more efficient than simply allowing the Coronavirus to take its natural course killing millions.

Millions of deaths wouldn't be enough to save the planet because killing that many people is not as good as imprisoning everyone!

Maybe the robots in the Matrix had the right idea!

Well, we have to come back down to earth after all that excitement...

Sadly "rights" prevent this.

Tom Wolf could have ended Pennsylvania's contribution to the destruction of the planet if he could just have a little more legal authority.

Authority to force you to stay home.

Force you to destroy your business and property.

(If you've been born in the last forty years this is call satire.  But you probably think or wish this to be true because climate change might hurt someone.  Sadly it's not, at least not yet.  But with your lack of education and problem solving skills you, like Neo, will never figure out your in the Matrix...)