The global spread of the coronavirus is intricately intertwined with the climate crisis. It is a problem exacerbated (and likely brought on) by environmental degradation of our own making, and how we respond to it could impact the health of the planet, and everyone on it, in ways that reverberate for generations to come.

The economic slowdown has temporarily led to cleaner air and the resurgence of wildlife in some cities hard hit by the virus. At the same time, there are indications that the pandemic is distracting from and derailing climate efforts. Under cover of COVID-19, the Trump administration has rolled back vehicle emissions standards. Vital international climate meetings have been canceled . Consumers again are clutching single-use plastics to salve fears of contamination, setting back years of conservation progress .

But fighting a pandemic and fighting climate destruction are not at cross purposes, argues Aaron Bernstein, a pediatrician at Boston Childrens Hospital who heads the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In fact, they are one and the same.

HuffPost spoke to Bernstein, an expert on the health impacts of climate change, about how the very actions that could slow climate destruction could also make us healthier, so we can better withstand the next pandemic or even prevent it from emerging.