Our response to the current global pandemic eerily parallels how we have dealt with climate change over the past several decades, condensed into just a few months.

First, an existential threat to lives is ignored, downplayed or presented as a liberal hoax by leaders who refuse to take precautions against an accelerating threat.

Following that, a reluctant acknowledgment that, as the outcomes scientist and experts predicted become reality, neither the climate nor viruses alter behavior based on political talking points.

Now we are at a stage in this pandemic that mirrors what we will likely face when the worse impacts of climate change are realized – a much more drastic, expensive and tumultuous response necessary to save lives and preserve our society.

Perhaps the adage should be amended to “an ounce of prevention and trust in science, is worth a pound of cure.”

Joe Tucker

New London