Habitat Destruction is the Pan-demic For everyone wanting to understand the relationship between human diets and viral epidemics, this article is worth a read:
“Zoonitic viruses (like COVID19) almost always leap to humans directly from livestock or from wildlife. … (But) enormous uptick in availability, innovation and consumer interest in plant-based and cultivated (cell-derived) meat. … gives consumers a painless swap with underlying benefits in safety and food sustainability. (We are) pouring immense resources into vaccine development in a frantic attempt at damage control but this will not prevent the next pandemic …”
It seems amazing that medical and political officials obsess about social distancing but have NOTHING to say about the cause of the pandemic – i.e. nothing about addiction to animal products. (Telling us don’t go outside, but keep buying meat?!?) But maybe finally the economic shutdown, public expense and coming deficit (not to mention deaths) will finally wake them up to the harm of the meat industry and the habitat destruction involved in the bushmeat trade. We need to start paying attention to science.
Scientists are also pointing out that viruses spring from wildlife whose habitats have been disrupted by the sprawl of human housing, farming and industry into wilderness areas.“The separation of health and environmental policy is a dangerous delusion. Our health entirely depends on the climate and the other organisms we share the planet with.” (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/25/coronavirus-nature-is-sending-us-a-message-says-un-environment-chief)
335 new diseases emerged from 1960 to 2000, and 60% came from disturbed animal species and habitats. Species are now dying out hundreds of times faster than was the overage over the past ten million years. Ultimately, the only salvation for ourselves and for wild species in jeopardy (those not already made extinct) is radical human population control. For a rich source of information and statistics on that please visit the site for the science-based organization Population Matters.
S. B. Julian, BA (History), MLS (Library Science), researches and writes free-lance on the topics of nature, conservation and history. The latest book from her personal imprint Ninshu Press is THE HORSE WHO MOVED BONES, a middle-school tale about work horses used in the dinosaur digs of the Alberta Badlands 100 years ago. (www.overleafbooks.blogspot.