o say that 2020 has been a challenging year would be an understatement. Researchers are still developing the vaccines that will hopefully curb the virus that has already killed over a million people worldwide. The economic impact of the virus has also been felt worldwide, where global GDP is expected to contract by almost 5% this year (as compared to the .1% year-on-year global GDP contraction, which occurred during the Great Recession). However, as jarring as 2020 has been, this year’s trials will pave the way for future global change.
The global emissions decline at the start of the pandemic hints at the work that must be done to curb emissions by the end of the century. The collective global experiment with remote work hint at more workplace flexibility in the years to come. In healthcare, both experiments with robot workers as well as the development of the world’s first mRNA vaccines speak to future possibilities within the field. And lastly, after a summer of protests that ricocheted across the globe, states find themselves under increasing pressure to address systemic racism and inequality in the years to come. As we move into 2021, our experiences with these important global issues will pave the way for the changes we’ll need to make to face tomorrow’s challenges.
The world would need to replicate the emissions reductions seen this year every year for the next decade to have any chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by century’s end.
The world would need to replicate the emissions reductions seen this year every year for the next decade to have any chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by century’s end.
Reducing Global Emissions
The early COVID-19 lockdowns in the first half of this year were responsible for the largest decrease in carbon dioxide emissions seen in decades. The decline was larger than that experienced after the 2008 financial crisis and the 1979 oil crisis. It even trumped the emissions decline experienced after World War II, beating the previous record drop of 790 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions achieved in 1945 by 760 million metric tons within the first half of 2020. The emissions drop initially seemed like one of the only positives resulting from the global pandemic. However, researchers at the Postdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany found that emissions quickly rebounded after many large national lockdowns ended. By July 2020, most economies were emitting their usual levels of carbon dioxide.
Scientists argue that the emissions drop experienced earlier this year also bears bad news for the future of the environment. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change argues that the world would need to replicate the emissions reductions seen this year every year for the next decade “to have any chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by century’s end.” Achieving such a drastic increase in global emissions will require not just changes in individual behavior, but also a restructuring of energy infrastructures across the globe.
Remote work options that persist after the pandemic might improve gender equality, especially for working mothers.
Remote work options that persist after the pandemic might improve gender equality, especially for working mothers.
The New Workplace
In March, pajamas and messy hair became office apropos when many of the world’s workers started working remotely to reduce the spread of COVID-19. In early February, millions of Chinese workers began working from home for the first time, and in April, up to half of American workers were working from home. Many of these new remote workers have expected to continue working from home or have said that they enjoyed the remote office lifestyle, underscoring the need for more flexible workplace options in the future. If employers enjoy this impromptu experiment with remote work, some say workplaces are likely to pursue a hybrid workplace model once the pandemic is over, allowing workers to work remotely for a few days each week. Others argue that remote work options that persist after the pandemic might improve gender equality, especially for working mothers. Research shows that remote work can both prevent women from having to choose between work and family; further, data has shown that remote work options during the pandemic got fathers more involved in parenting responsibilities. Clearly, if kept as more than a temporary solution to the COVID-19 crisis, remote work can offer more flexible options to the benefit of the workforce at large.
Though this year has been a burden on global healthcare systems, the challenge of the pandemic has produced some exciting innovations.
Though this year has been a burden on global healthcare systems, the challenge of the pandemic has produced some exciting innovations.
Healthcare Like Never Before
Though this year has been a burden on global healthcare systems, the challenge of the pandemic has produced some exciting innovations. Perhaps most notable has been the rapid development of some of the world’s first successful mRNA vaccines. Though mRNA vaccines had been in development for almost 30 years (a feat scientists might have considered dubious even ten years ago), they have been successfully created by Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca to combat the coronavirus. The mRNA vaccines offer several potential benefits over regular immunizations. Perhaps most notably, mRNA vaccines can help immune systems recognize and fight a virus without getting a person sick. Vaccines made from mRNA can also be developed using materials readily available in a laboratory. And in the future, mRNA technology might be used to make immunizations that combat multiple illnesses at once. As researchers hope that mRNA vaccines will help the world come out of the coronavirus crisis, they also offer reasons to wonder what other diseases mRNA technology might help us combat.
Medical robots are another exciting healthcare innovation that has been further developed during the pandemic. Robots were already being tested in medical occupations before 2020 but have been used during the pandemic to keep humans out of dangerous hospital jobs. In the U.S., a robot named Moxi has been used in Texas hospitals to complete repetitive tasks (such as deliveries) so that human labor can be preserved for more important tasks. In Asia, a golden-retriever sized robot named Spot has served as a safe-distance ambassador, helping a human worker observe people and enforce social distancing guidelines. To roboticists’ surprise, the crisis has reduced human resistance to robots, opening up more opportunities to use robots in medical applications in the future.
A More Equal Future
When American police murdered George Floyd in May of this year, the act of violence sparked a global reckoning. Protests erupted not just across the United States, but in countries from Switzerland to Brazil. Though protestors in the U.S. asked their country to grapple with a history of racism that springs from slavery and colonization, the global message of the Black Lives Matter movement has been molded to address the injustice within a variety of states. In Australia, protests over Floyd’s death focused on the country’s history of violence against its indigenous populations, and in France, protests focused on removing a statue of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a former finance minister who drafted a ‘Black Code’ dictating the treatment of black slaves in colonial France. In 2020, the protests were responsible for removing the statues of slave traders and conquerors across the world and calling out companies for a lack of racial equality. The reach of the global movement offers hope to those working to address global racism in the new year.
2020 has certainly been a year of many challenges as the world grapples with climate change, coronavirus, and racial injustice. However, 2020 has also provided evidence of what solutions are needed to solve the world’s most pressing issues. As we move into 2021, it’s important to remember the challenges from this particularly difficult year as we look to grow into the future.
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The World in 2021
Image by Jorge Reyna via Unsplash.
December 15, 2020
How 2020’s Challenges Will Pave the Way for Future Growth.
T
o say that 2020 has been a challenging year would be an understatement. Researchers are still developing the vaccines that will hopefully curb the virus that has already killed over a million people worldwide. The economic impact of the virus has also been felt worldwide, where global GDP is expected to contract by almost 5% this year (as compared to the .1% year-on-year global GDP contraction, which occurred during the Great Recession). However, as jarring as 2020 has been, this year’s trials will pave the way for future global change.
The global emissions decline at the start of the pandemic hints at the work that must be done to curb emissions by the end of the century. The collective global experiment with remote work hint at more workplace flexibility in the years to come. In healthcare, both experiments with robot workers as well as the development of the world’s first mRNA vaccines speak to future possibilities within the field. And lastly, after a summer of protests that ricocheted across the globe, states find themselves under increasing pressure to address systemic racism and inequality in the years to come. As we move into 2021, our experiences with these important global issues will pave the way for the changes we’ll need to make to face tomorrow’s challenges.
The world would need to replicate the emissions reductions seen this year every year for the next decade to have any chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by century’s end.
The world would need to replicate the emissions reductions seen this year every year for the next decade to have any chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by century’s end.
Reducing Global Emissions
The early COVID-19 lockdowns in the first half of this year were responsible for the largest decrease in carbon dioxide emissions seen in decades. The decline was larger than that experienced after the 2008 financial crisis and the 1979 oil crisis. It even trumped the emissions decline experienced after World War II, beating the previous record drop of 790 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions achieved in 1945 by 760 million metric tons within the first half of 2020. The emissions drop initially seemed like one of the only positives resulting from the global pandemic. However, researchers at the Postdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany found that emissions quickly rebounded after many large national lockdowns ended. By July 2020, most economies were emitting their usual levels of carbon dioxide.
Scientists argue that the emissions drop experienced earlier this year also bears bad news for the future of the environment. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change argues that the world would need to replicate the emissions reductions seen this year every year for the next decade “to have any chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by century’s end.” Achieving such a drastic increase in global emissions will require not just changes in individual behavior, but also a restructuring of energy infrastructures across the globe.
Remote work options that persist after the pandemic might improve gender equality, especially for working mothers.
Remote work options that persist after the pandemic might improve gender equality, especially for working mothers.
The New Workplace
In March, pajamas and messy hair became office apropos when many of the world’s workers started working remotely to reduce the spread of COVID-19. In early February, millions of Chinese workers began working from home for the first time, and in April, up to half of American workers were working from home. Many of these new remote workers have expected to continue working from home or have said that they enjoyed the remote office lifestyle, underscoring the need for more flexible workplace options in the future. If employers enjoy this impromptu experiment with remote work, some say workplaces are likely to pursue a hybrid workplace model once the pandemic is over, allowing workers to work remotely for a few days each week. Others argue that remote work options that persist after the pandemic might improve gender equality, especially for working mothers. Research shows that remote work can both prevent women from having to choose between work and family; further, data has shown that remote work options during the pandemic got fathers more involved in parenting responsibilities. Clearly, if kept as more than a temporary solution to the COVID-19 crisis, remote work can offer more flexible options to the benefit of the workforce at large.
Though this year has been a burden on global healthcare systems, the challenge of the pandemic has produced some exciting innovations.
Though this year has been a burden on global healthcare systems, the challenge of the pandemic has produced some exciting innovations.
Healthcare Like Never Before
Though this year has been a burden on global healthcare systems, the challenge of the pandemic has produced some exciting innovations. Perhaps most notable has been the rapid development of some of the world’s first successful mRNA vaccines. Though mRNA vaccines had been in development for almost 30 years (a feat scientists might have considered dubious even ten years ago), they have been successfully created by Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca to combat the coronavirus. The mRNA vaccines offer several potential benefits over regular immunizations. Perhaps most notably, mRNA vaccines can help immune systems recognize and fight a virus without getting a person sick. Vaccines made from mRNA can also be developed using materials readily available in a laboratory. And in the future, mRNA technology might be used to make immunizations that combat multiple illnesses at once. As researchers hope that mRNA vaccines will help the world come out of the coronavirus crisis, they also offer reasons to wonder what other diseases mRNA technology might help us combat.
Medical robots are another exciting healthcare innovation that has been further developed during the pandemic. Robots were already being tested in medical occupations before 2020 but have been used during the pandemic to keep humans out of dangerous hospital jobs. In the U.S., a robot named Moxi has been used in Texas hospitals to complete repetitive tasks (such as deliveries) so that human labor can be preserved for more important tasks. In Asia, a golden-retriever sized robot named Spot has served as a safe-distance ambassador, helping a human worker observe people and enforce social distancing guidelines. To roboticists’ surprise, the crisis has reduced human resistance to robots, opening up more opportunities to use robots in medical applications in the future.
A More Equal Future
When American police murdered George Floyd in May of this year, the act of violence sparked a global reckoning. Protests erupted not just across the United States, but in countries from Switzerland to Brazil. Though protestors in the U.S. asked their country to grapple with a history of racism that springs from slavery and colonization, the global message of the Black Lives Matter movement has been molded to address the injustice within a variety of states. In Australia, protests over Floyd’s death focused on the country’s history of violence against its indigenous populations, and in France, protests focused on removing a statue of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a former finance minister who drafted a ‘Black Code’ dictating the treatment of black slaves in colonial France. In 2020, the protests were responsible for removing the statues of slave traders and conquerors across the world and calling out companies for a lack of racial equality. The reach of the global movement offers hope to those working to address global racism in the new year.
2020 has certainly been a year of many challenges as the world grapples with climate change, coronavirus, and racial injustice. However, 2020 has also provided evidence of what solutions are needed to solve the world’s most pressing issues. As we move into 2021, it’s important to remember the challenges from this particularly difficult year as we look to grow into the future.
