It was recently going through a survey-based article by Jeff Tollefson, where he has clearly stated, “As humans diminish biodiversity by cutting down forests and building more infrastructure, they’re increasing the risk of pandemics such as COVID-19. Many ecologists have long suspected this, but a new study helps to reveal why: while some species are going extinct, those that tend to survive and thrive – rats and bats, for instance – are more likely to host potentially dangerous pathogens that can make the jump to humans.”
Kate Jones is one of a cadre of researchers that has long been delving into relationships among biodiversity, land use and emerging infectious diseases. Their work has mostly flown below the radar, but now, as the world reels from the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to map risks in communities across the globe and to project where diseases are most likely to emerge are taking centre stage.
As Jeff quotes Jones who is also an ecological modeller at University College London and an author of the study titled, ‘Nobody paid any attention’, published on 5th August in the renowned Nature magazine, “We’ve been warning about this for decades. Nobody paid any attention.”
Exactly the same situation is prevalent almost everywhere in the world. A recent study conducted in Mumbai city has shown that the areas with less green covers and more concretisation are warmer than other parts of the city with increase in extreme heat waves. Furthermore, according to the study, in the past five years till 2021, 2,028 hectares of urban tree cover have vanished from the city. A simple comparison will make us understand the gravity of the situation more clearly. It is almost equal to the size of about one-and-a-half Aarey Milk Colony that has a span of 1,300 hectares. This loss of bio-diversity has effected emission of 19,640.9 tonnes of CO2 per year.
As once again the count of Corona patients is increasing in Mumbai, this is the high time to decide the right course of action and implement that.
Pravita Iyer
Publisher & Director
