Unless we take nature conservation seriously, we are entering era of more pandemics
16:57
The authors of the IPBES report, the natural equivalent of the IPCC, warn: we are threatened with more global epidemics. However, they indicate that there are ways to reduce the risk of their occurrence. We will only avoid them when we take care of nature.
We can adopt one of two strategies to protect ourselves from recurring pandemics. The first is to control and contain disease once it occurs, as we do with Covid-19. The second is preventing a pandemic by protecting nature. The interdisciplinary research of the authors of the IPBES report shows that reducing the climate and environmental crisis also reduces the risk of further pandemics.
“Pandemics like the present one may become more frequent and even more serious in the future. The reasons are the exploitation of the environment, human mobility, but also climate change. Its impact on pathogens and organisms that transport them is better and better understood. In Poland, for example, an increase in the incidence of Lyme disease is observed, because, at higher temperatures, ticks forage longer during the year,” Anna Sierpińska, editor of the Climate Science portal, said.
Most of the pandemics that threaten civilization are zoonoses such as the coronavirus. They are related to human penetration into the depths of the natural world. Therefore, it was recognized that preventing pandemics is possible through better protection of nature.
IPBES is the Intergovernmental Science and Policy Platform for Biological Diversity and Ecosystem Services. The report is a joint position of specialists in fields as diverse as epidemiology, zoology, public health, disease ecology, comparative pathology, and mathematical modeling. It is based on over 600 peer-reviewed scientific papers.
