Pax Corona

Pax Corona (Latin for “Crown Peace”) describes the peace that the natural world experienced during the 2019-2020 coronavirus pandemic, as the global slowdown in mancer activity—due to lockdowns and quarantines—has given Mother Nature some time to take a much-needed breath of fresh air. Between travel restrictions, reductions in public transport and overall economic activity that generates emissions—such as coal burning, refining oil, producing steel, air travel, ground transportation—the climate is getting the kind of rest from destructive mancer activity it hasn’t gotten since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. The lockdown in China (the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases), for example, has cut the nation’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 100 million metric tons in just two weeks. Pax Corona is adapted from the term “Pax Romana” (Latin for "Roman Peace"), the roughly 222-year-long period in Roman history which is identified with increased and sustained inner hegemonial peace and stability (though not meaning without wars, expansion and revolts).