We Hate Pandemics: So why are we making more of them?

NOTE:  The Joy of Saving the Human Race is now “The Human Survival Podcast.”  For a brief explanation listen to the episode on July 1, 2022, “The Name Of This Show Is Changing…”

This show is part of The Human Survival Project, a grassroots movement that encourages citizens around the world to push for transformation of the United Nations system.  We want humanity to have the tools to protect itself from global catastrophic threats, and solving global threats requires strong global systems.

** Connect and learn more at: https://www.thehumansurvivalproject.org/ **

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Unfortunately, COVID-19 is probably just practice for other pandemics in the future, which might be far worse.  We are creating this risk ourselves – destroying nature, warming the climate, allowing poverty to persist, eating meat, and even inventing dangerous new viruses in labs.  And we still don’t have adequate global public health systems to protect us from these risks we’re creating.  But luckily, there are many solutions we can use – and we can afford it.

 

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Resources:

Demographics:

~ World population - https://bit.ly/2QGcUYB
~ Urbanization - https://bit.ly/3xDIqqC

Destruction of nature:

~ Grist, 4/27/20
Deadly Leaps: These scientists saw the coronavirus coming. Now they're trying to stop the next pandemic before it starts.
https://bit.ly/3ecYmIJ

~ The Guardian, 8/30/20
Rampant destruction of forests ‘will unleash more pandemics’
https://bit.ly/3tdUjA0 

~ The Guardian, 7/28/20
We are entering an era of pandemics – it will end only when we protect the rainforest
https://bit.ly/33fwgpL

~ Ensia, 12/8/20
There Are Worse Viruses Than COVID-19 Out There.  How Do We Avoid the Next Big One?
https://bit.ly/3eRFnlU  

~ Ensia, 3/17/20
Destruction of Habitat and Loss of Biodiversity Are Creating the Perfect Conditions for Diseases Like COVID-19 to Emerge
https://bit.ly/3vwvb9a

~ Rolling Stone, 12/7/20
How Climate Change Is Ushering in a New Pandemic Era
https://bit.ly/3vBxuIm

Meat production:

~ Vox - June 10, 2020
The meat we eat is a pandemic risk, too
“If you actually want to create global pandemics, then build factory farms.”
https://bit.ly/3xH2Qz3

~ The Guardian, 9/18/20
A 12-storey pig farm: has China found the way to tackle animal disease?
https://bit.ly/3eRMZ8f

~ NY Times, 4/29/19
U.N. Issues Urgent Warning on the Growing Peril of Drug-Resistant Infections
https://nyti.ms/3eaapX6

~ Foreign Policy, 5/21/20
China’s Farms Are Petri Dishes of Antibiotic Resistance
https://bit.ly/3eQcve4

~ NY Times, 6/7/19
Warning of ‘Pig Zero’: One Drugmaker’s Push to Sell More Antibiotics
https://nyti.ms/3eL6YFG

Virology labs:

~ Newsweek, 4/27/20
The Controversial Experiments and Wuhan Lab Suspected of Starting the Coronavirus Pandemic
https://bit.ly/3tlF2gV

~ Washington Post, 4/30/20
Chinese lab conducted extensive research on deadly bat viruses, but there is no evidence of accidental release
https://wapo.st/3vAXpzJ

~ Vox, 5/1/20
Why some labs work on making viruses deadlier — and why they should stop
https://bit.ly/3uccdVa

~ Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - February 25, 2019
Human error in high-biocontainment labs: a likely pandemic threat
https://bit.ly/3eaavOE

~ Jamie Metzl - Origins of SARS-CoV-2
[This site contains TONS of resources related to the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a China lab.]
https://bit.ly/3edTYZY

Bioterrorism:

~ TED, 7/17/19
How synthetic biology could wipe out humanity -- and how we can stop it | Rob Reid
https://bit.ly/3xJfVYw

Pandemic resilience systems:

~ UN Environment Programme, 7/6/20
Preventing the next pandemic - Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission
https://bit.ly/3nHIxgr

~ Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
Escaping the Era of Pandemics
https://bit.ly/3xJhXb6

~ Bloomberg Businessweek, 2/3/21
The Five Things to Get Right Before the Next Pandemic
https://bloom.bg/3xJAnbG

 ~ The Guardian, 7/23/20
Cost of preventing next pandemic 'equal to just 2% of Covid-19 economic damage'
https://bit.ly/3gUYLBc

Global vaccine distribution:

~ The Hill, 4/23/21
WHO leader blasts vaccine inequity on anniversary of COVAX plan
https://bit.ly/2PGAtzK

~ Washington Post, 3/11/21
The U.S. bought enough coronavirus vaccines for three times its adult population
https://wapo.st/2RgU0HE

~ New York Times, 12/15/20
With First Dibs on Vaccines, Rich Countries Have ‘Cleared the Shelves’
https://nyti.ms/3aWKMY0

~ New York Times, 1/31/21
As Virus Variants Spread, ‘No One Is Safe Until Everyone Is Safe’
https://nyti.ms/2QHPSk2

~ New York Times, 1/23/21
If Poor Countries Go Unvaccinated, a Study Says, Rich Ones Will Pay
https://nyti.ms/3vCfAoN

Hunger:

~ United Nations – Global Humanitarian Overview, 11/30/20
https://bit.ly/3uce8ZS

~ World Politics Review, 12/7/20
COVID-19 Poses the Greatest Challenge Yet to the U.N. Humanitarian System
https://bit.ly/3nL6Cmj

~ World Food Program - July 2, 2020
Coronavirus and hunger: WFP ready to assist largest number of people ever
https://bit.ly/3eaNCdH

~ New York Times, 11/1/20
How the Wealthy World Has Failed Poor Countries During the Pandemic
https://nyti.ms/33cNLac

Water:

~ World Resources Institute - January 21, 2020
It Could Only Cost 1% of GDP to Solve Global Water Crises
https://bit.ly/3nEe174