Scientists warn worse pandemics are on the way if we don't protect nature

[Rhiannon12866]

Pandemics like COVID-19 could occur more frequently unless we stop rapidly destroying nature, a group of biodiversity experts has warned.

1.7 million unidentified viruses, known to infect humans, are estimated to exist in mammals and water birds.

Rampant deforestation, agricultural expansion and infrastructure development bring us closer to catching them.

A group of biodiversity experts warned that future pandemics are on the horizon if mankind does not stop its rapid destruction of nature.

Writing an article published Monday by The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the authors put the responsibility for COVID-19 squarely on our shoulders.

"There is a single species that is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic – us. As with the climate and biodiversity crises, recent pandemics are a direct consequence of human activity – particularly our global financial and economic systems, based on a limited paradigm that prizes economic growth at any cost. We have a small window of opportunity, in overcoming the challenges of the current crisis, to avoid sowing the seeds of future ones," the authors wrote on IPBES.

The authors of the report include the three co-chairs of the comprehensive 2019 IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, which found that one million species of plants and animals are at risk of extinction within decades. The fourth author, Peter Daszak, is the president of EcoHealth Alliance and is tasked with spearheading the IPBES' next global assessment, as The Guardian reported.

The authors argue that government stimulus plans need to include sustainable and nature-positive initiatives.

"It may be politically expedient at this time to relax environmental standards and to prop up industries such as intensive agriculture, long-distance transportation such as the airlines, and fossil-fuel-dependent energy sectors, but doing so without requiring urgent and fundamental change, essentially subsidizes the emergence of future pandemics," the authors wrote.

They also fault wanton greed for allowing microbes that lead to novel diseases to jump from animals to humans.

"Rampant deforestation, uncontrolled expansion of agriculture, intensive farming, mining and infrastructure development, as well as the exploitation of wild species have created a 'perfect storm' for the spillover of diseases from wildlife to people," they wrote in their article.

They warn that 1.7 million unidentified viruses known to infect people are estimated to exist in mammals and water birds. Any one of these may be more disruptive and lethal than COVID-19.


Read more: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/scientists-pandemics-coronavirus-nature-covid19-health



Failure to act could make pandemics more and more likely. Image: via REUTERS

[abqtommy]

1. Many years ago I enjoyed the comic/political strip written by Walt Kelly*. One strip showed a

character in the strip saying "We have met the enemy, and he is us". That still applies today...

* "We Have Met the Enemy, and He is Us: Pogo Possum and Politics in the Funnies

By Alexander Stern on October 29, 2008 at 9:24 PM

In the long history of newspaper comics, few strips have managed to be as beloved and as controversial as Walt Kelly’s Pogo. Today, we take it for granted that comic strips comment on the current political climate."

more at link:

https://blog.timesunion.com/comics/we-have-met-the-enemy-and-he-is-us-pogo-possum-and-politics-in-the-funnies/94/

[Rhiannon12866]

2. I do remember that comic - and that's my local newspaper, LOL

I was born in Albany and my Dad grew up there and even though we moved about an hour north, where I still live, my parents always subscribed to the "TU" as they called it and we kids loved reading the "funnies" every Sunday.

And you're right, that was always a great strip - and I also remember that quote! Thanks for the article!

[abqtommy]

3. Coincidence? With the moon full tomorrow? Thanks for the original op... I had to look up and

see just what a TU is. DU is so educational!

[Rhiannon12866]

4. Oh, the "TU" was always what my parents called the Albany Times Union

And that's where the article was from!

[abqtommy]

5. Yes. I noticed that after my most recent post. HAHA! See how I laugh at myself!

[Rhiannon12866]

8. GMTA!!!

Earth Day, 1971, Walt Kelly and Pogo
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127137715#post6

[Alex4Martinez]

6. Earth Day, 1971, Walt Kelly and Pogo

[Rhiannon12866]

7. Great classic cartoon, thanks!