Covid19 Pandemic Confirms an Overstretched Earth Systems

In the midst of threatening COVID-19 pandemic, we need honest reflections about the remote and immediate natural causes of the pandemic. We must acknowledge that our earth system is overstretched.

Photo credit: Science Photo Library

Our land-fields and oceans are inundated with plastic wastes. Our forest landscapes are facing high scale fragmentation and degradation, leading to unprecedented decline of ecosystems and biodiversity largely owing to illegal logging, reckless mining, human-induced wildfires, overpopulation, unsustainable subsistence farming and conversion of forests landscapes to commercial plantations. The Congo rainforest for instance lost over 165,000 km² between 2000 and 2014. Regrettably, this decline threatens the survival of a forest which is home to over 10,000 animals species, 600 tree species and have over 80 million people who depend solely on its natural ecosystem services for livelihood.

Photo credit phys. org

This scenario apparently, confirms that nature across most of the globe has been significantly altered by multiple human drivers with major indicators of ecosystem and biodiversity experiencing rapid decline alongside climate change exposing humanity to multiple risks. Honest reflections must include urgent inclusive actions to our ecosystem to reduce the cumulative impact of climate and degradation on landscapes, oceans, wetlands, habitats and species. The campaign planting one billion trees in Africa is a no-regret nature-based solution capable of repairing our broken ecological system and reduce multi-hazards including risk of pandemics such as COVID-19.

Photo credit: theecologist.org

Let's plant One Billion Trees and bring back nature to its full life. We can do it.
Watch the video of same on youtube https://youtu.be/cuA_UQn5bpM

Thank you for reading. Follow me on twitter @Tabijoda1