A GDP for natu How measuring the health of the
natural world might prevent the next pandemic
By Laura H. Kahn, Feb 25, 2021, the Bulletin

During the late 90s, the deadly Nipah virus emerged after
millions of hectares of tropical forest in Malaysia were
destroyed to clear land for pig farms. Displaced fruit bats
sought nourishment in orchards near the pig farms,
contaminating fruit with their urine and saliva. The pigs
ate the fruit, developed severe respiratory illnesses and
neurological abnormalities, & subsequently spread the virus
to farm workers. The outbreak devastated the Malaysian
pig-farming industry, required the culling of over a million
pigs, & cost the farmers & govt 100s of millions of dollars.
In the end, the virus sickened 265 people & killed 105.
Other South & SE Asian, countries, in particular Bangladesh,
have since reported Nipah virus cases & the WHO estimates
the case fatality rate of the virus to be between 40-75%.

Many Nipah virus survivors suffered chronic neurological
symptoms. The outbreak illustrates that allowing biodiverse
ecosystems to be destroyed promotes disease emergence with
potentially disastrous consequences. And of course, its not
just food production in Malaysia that creates health and
environmental risks.

Intensive animal agriculture production in the US, using
facilities called Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
(CAFOs), poses tremendous threats to human, animal, environ-
mental, and ecosystem health. Raising thousands or tens of
thousands of animals together produces massive quantities
of manure containing hundreds of pathogens, including
Salmonella & E.coli, that can cause foodborne and
waterborne illnesses.

Manure is commonly spread on agro fields as fertilizer, but
it also contaminates the soils with antibiotic resistant
bacteria & leaches into waterways, causing algae overgrowth
of lakes & streams leading to dead fish. Worsening climate
change & severe storms flood manure lagoons risking widespread
contamination of surrounding environments. Not only does manure
contaminate soil & water, it also contaminates the atmosphere.
Microbes in manure release methane & nitrous oxide which are
23 & 300 times more potent in trapping heat than carbon dioxide
& contribute over 7% of US greenhouse gas emissions.

We need to reassess what we value. The natural world is
essential for our health and well-being, but we dont value
it properly. Instead, we exploit it until it bites us back.
We must change our values if we want to prevent the next pandemic.

The most common metric for measuring national wealth is the
gross domestic product, or GDP. GDP measures a nations
economic prosperity, its total value of services & goods
produced in one year. But this metric provides a narrow
picture of national wealth and ignores the destructive costs
that we impose upon our natural world.

One option might be to use something like a One Health
calculus as an addition to the GDP. One Health is a term
used to describe the inextricable linkages between human,
animal, plant, environmental, and ecosystem health. A One
Health calculus might measure the status of a nations
natural resources, the purity of its environments, the
biodiversity of its ecosystems, the sustainability of its
agriculture, the health of its flora & fauna, the resiliency
of its food security, & the life expectancies of its peoples.

https://thebulletin.org/2021/02/a-gd...next-pandemic/

David P wrote

A GDP for natu How measuring the health of the
natural world might prevent the next pandemic

Just more utterly silly journo click bait.

By Laura H. Kahn, Feb 25, 2021, the Bulletin

During the late 90s, the deadly Nipah virus emerged
after millions of hectares of tropical forest in Malaysia
were destroyed to clear land for pig farms.

Bull****.

Displaced fruit bats sought nourishment in orchards near the
pig farms, contaminating fruit with their urine and saliva.

How odd that that happens in Oz without the tropical forest clearing.

reams of **** flushed where it belongs

On Fri, 26 Feb 2021 19:51:52 +1100, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:

FLUSH the trolling senile pest's latest troll**** unread

--
Website (from 2007) dedicated to the 86-year-old senile Australian
cretin's pathological trolling:
https://www.pcreview.co.uk/threads/r...d-faq.2973853/

On 26/02/2021 08:51, Rod Speed wrote:
David P wrote
A GDP for natu How measuring the health of the natural world might
prevent the next pandemic

Just more utterly silly journo click bait.
By Laura H. Kahn, Feb 25, 2021, the Bulletin

During the late 90s, the deadly Nipah virus emerged after millions of
hectares of tropical forest in Malaysia were destroyed to clear land
for pig farms.

Bull****.
Displaced fruit bats sought nourishment in orchards near the pig
farms, contaminating fruit with their urine and saliva.

How odd that that happens in Oz without the tropical forest clearing.
reams of **** flushed where it belongs



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJgf...rgottenIreland