Why the climate crisis is making us sick and what we can do about it
"Climate change is directly linked to a higher risk of a pandemic as rising temperatures enable mosquitoes, ticks, and other disease-carrying insects to proliferate, adapt to different seasons and invade new territories."
- Máire Connolly of the European Commission
If the Covid-19 pandemic has proven anything, it's that the human exploitation of natural ecosystems, environments, and resources decimates not only plant and animal populations around the world, but further jeopardizes the security of human society as well. Humanity continues to encroach further into wild habitats as deforestation persists around the globe, increasing the risk of zoonotic viruses jumping from animals to humans, as was suspected to be the case with Covid-19. What's more, the clearing of forests is often followed by the establishment of factory farms, where livestock are piled one on top of another and pumped full of antibiotics, proving to be yet another breeding ground for disease with the potential to impact human society. As it stands, the future of our civilization appears to be one in which the emergence of novel diseases becomes somewhat of a regular occurrence, and this "pandemic era" we are headed towards is inextricable from the climate catastrophe. But it doesn't have to be this way. There are actionable steps we as a society can begin taking right now to slow the pace of climate deterioration and stave off the impending future of disease.
Samuel Kefallinos
UC Berkeley Class of 2024
Major: interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in Sino-American Political Economy and Media Representation