The global GDP is expected to fall more than 3%, so many of us want to be open for business, but we don’t want to have to fight these pandemics again in our lifetime!
With all that’s at stake, we must do what we can to avoid these viruses in the future. But right now, we’re heading in the wrong direction: Pandemics are likely to be more frequent in the coming decades unless we practice mitigation efforts that include fighting the climate crisis.
Infectious diseases have been rising since the 1950s, with an increasing number of them coming from wild animals — a strain of diseases called zoonoses. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 3 out of every 4 new infectious diseases in people come from animals.
We’ve seen examples of rampant zoonotic diseases in our lifetimes, like Ebola, SARS, H1N1 and now COVID-19.
Part of this increase is from climate change. Climate change increases the likelihood of both zoonoses and vector-borne diseases (In epidemiology, a disease vector is any agent which carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism) because as the Earth warms and seasons change, some species move from their habitats while others breed earlier in the year.
The other part of this is habitat destruction. As humans encroach and destroy habitats, like the Amazon Rainforest — where more than 20 percent of the rainforest has been cleared for farms, logging and more living space — they come in close contact with wildlife and all the diseases they carry. Some people capture live wild animals or kill them to sell them in wet markets.
Research suggests that between 2003 and 2015, for every 10% of forest the Amazon lost, it gained 3% more malaria cases.
And on top of making pandemics more likely, deforestation also contributes about 10% of emissions worldwide, making it a primary contributor to climate change. Rainforests, in particular, are huge carbon sinks, helping to slow climate change by removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in trees. Models typically predict this benefit will last decades more, but we’re quickly outpacing their intake. We must turn this around by 2030 or we may not recognize Earth by 2050!
When we burn trees, all that carbon is released and heads back into the atmosphere, worsening air quality. Smoke from the clearing of forests for palm oil plantations in Indonesia, for example, began killing animals and humans in neighboring towns. Research strongly suggests that any amount of air pollution increases the likelihood of dying from COVID-19.
New diseases are likely to emerge, but they won’t come nearly as frequently as with unchecked climate change. If we take climate action and stop or slow deforestation, all species will be safer and healthier.
Stop deforestation by supporting non-profits that take an active role against it. On this Earth Day, consider donating to environmental organizations, such as the Environmental Defense Fund or Greenpeace, as well as demanding that your local trees be protected. Save trees for our protection!