While the COVID-19 pandemic is causing worldwide panic, with more than 1.4 million cases and 80,000 deaths confirmed, global cooperation seems to be a faraway reach. The U.S, China, and many other countries are busy tossing around the blame; Chinese officials pushed conspiracy theories that the U.S. army started the virus, while President Trump and other public figures labeled the COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” multiple times.
President Trump is now blaming the World Health Organization for his disastrous coronavirus response. Under rising deaths, the world is fighting over temporary relief.
What we don’t realize, however, is the fact that everyone shares the same responsibility in the spread of the COVID-19, as it is a byproduct of human activities. Our responses are neglecting the importance of bringing an actual solution to end the COVID-19.
To draw a reasonable solution, we need to investigate the cause first. The novel coronavirus that originated from Wuhan, China, around December 2019, is known to have spread from bats to intermediate species to humans. According to a recent study published in Nature, endangered pangolins — a scaly anteater illegally trafficked for food and medicine — are the most likely link between the coronavirus spread from bats to humans as the genetic sequences of the novel coronavirus in pangolins matched 85.5% to 92.4% identical to the coronavirus currently infecting hundreds of thousands of people.
After the SARS(Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), MERS(Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), and Ebola virus disease outbreaks in the past were caused by similar reasons, the COVID-19 is nothing new.
The pattern is simple. The increasing transportation of wild animals and the destruction of their habitats allow wild species to easily transfer disease through ”zoonotic spillover.” The likely source of the virus, the wet markets in Wuhan, China, is an example of wild animals held captive sold next to other animals as well as fruits and vegetables, in dangerous proximity to humans.
Meanwhile, the problem of wildlife trade isn’t restricted to one area or race. It is a global problem. Illegal practices of selling endangered animals and their parts online and offline have long persisted in Africa, Europe and the Western world as well. Wildlife trade is the second-biggest direct threat to species survival, after habitat destruction, and the number of species on earth declined by approximately 40% from 1970 to 2000, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.
In recent years, the impact of illegal wildlife trade on species has reached an estimated worth of $23 billion a year and threatens the extinction of well-known species including rhinos, tigers, elephants, and sharks. Urgent action is needed to address this crisis, to help countries control poaching on the ground as well as to take steps to reduce the demand in consumer countries that is ultimately driving the trade.
The COVID-19 is a loud and clear warning that the environmental damage we cause affects us most. Covering up the effects of the disease is important. But, it all comes down to how well we will be able to prevent similar instances in the future by effectively putting a stop to the roots of this problem: the destruction of nature. In order to do so, wildlife protection laws should be amended as soon as possible.
We cannot risk the lives of millions of people around the world under the name of culture or industry. We also cannot escape the essence of the problem with racism and political fist fight. We need to learn how to coexist with nature and animals as well as people without harming one another.
Humans, with no doubt, are the most dangerous species in the world. Clearly, we are not made to disrupt the wildlife and the environment of these animals. This outbreak of the virus has taught us, once again, that to coexist with the people and the environment around us, we need to work together. We need to understand the importance of protecting the earth and respecting its boundaries, instead of fighting over who gets to use more of it. As a consequence of human greed, millions of lives are being sacrificed. If we still don’t accept the urgency to preserve the nature of the Earth we borrowed, it will be a matter of time for deadly pandemics to repeat themselves in future history.
President Trump is now blaming the World Health Organization for his disastrous coronavirus response. Under rising deaths, the world is fighting over temporary relief.
What we don’t realize, however, is the fact that everyone shares the same responsibility in the spread of the COVID-19, as it is a byproduct of human activities. Our responses are neglecting the importance of bringing an actual solution to end the COVID-19.
To draw a reasonable solution, we need to investigate the cause first. The novel coronavirus that originated from Wuhan, China, around December 2019, is known to have spread from bats to intermediate species to humans. According to a recent study published in Nature, endangered pangolins — a scaly anteater illegally trafficked for food and medicine — are the most likely link between the coronavirus spread from bats to humans as the genetic sequences of the novel coronavirus in pangolins matched 85.5% to 92.4% identical to the coronavirus currently infecting hundreds of thousands of people.
After the SARS(Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), MERS(Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), and Ebola virus disease outbreaks in the past were caused by similar reasons, the COVID-19 is nothing new.
The pattern is simple. The increasing transportation of wild animals and the destruction of their habitats allow wild species to easily transfer disease through ”zoonotic spillover.” The likely source of the virus, the wet markets in Wuhan, China, is an example of wild animals held captive sold next to other animals as well as fruits and vegetables, in dangerous proximity to humans.
Meanwhile, the problem of wildlife trade isn’t restricted to one area or race. It is a global problem. Illegal practices of selling endangered animals and their parts online and offline have long persisted in Africa, Europe and the Western world as well. Wildlife trade is the second-biggest direct threat to species survival, after habitat destruction, and the number of species on earth declined by approximately 40% from 1970 to 2000, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.
In recent years, the impact of illegal wildlife trade on species has reached an estimated worth of $23 billion a year and threatens the extinction of well-known species including rhinos, tigers, elephants, and sharks. Urgent action is needed to address this crisis, to help countries control poaching on the ground as well as to take steps to reduce the demand in consumer countries that is ultimately driving the trade.
The COVID-19 is a loud and clear warning that the environmental damage we cause affects us most. Covering up the effects of the disease is important. But, it all comes down to how well we will be able to prevent similar instances in the future by effectively putting a stop to the roots of this problem: the destruction of nature. In order to do so, wildlife protection laws should be amended as soon as possible.
We cannot risk the lives of millions of people around the world under the name of culture or industry. We also cannot escape the essence of the problem with racism and political fist fight. We need to learn how to coexist with nature and animals as well as people without harming one another.
Humans, with no doubt, are the most dangerous species in the world. Clearly, we are not made to disrupt the wildlife and the environment of these animals. This outbreak of the virus has taught us, once again, that to coexist with the people and the environment around us, we need to work together. We need to understand the importance of protecting the earth and respecting its boundaries, instead of fighting over who gets to use more of it. As a consequence of human greed, millions of lives are being sacrificed. If we still don’t accept the urgency to preserve the nature of the Earth we borrowed, it will be a matter of time for deadly pandemics to repeat themselves in future history.