Name: How to stop the next pandemic? Stop deforestation
Uploaded: 2023-12-05T15:58:16Z
Duration: 9 min 53 s
Description: Clearing tropical forests isn't just dangerous to the natural world — it's also a threat to human health and wellbeing, says physician Neil Vora. Tracing how environmental devastation led to deadly epidemics like Ebola, he presents three ways deforestation unleashes disease and calls on each of us to help preserve the delicate ecological balance we depend upon.

Neil Vora: How to stop the next pandemic? Stop deforestation

How to stop the next pandemic? Stop deforestation

Clearing tropical forests isn't just dangerous to the natural world — it's also a threat to human health and wellbeing, says physician Neil Vora. Tracing how environmental devastation led to deadly epidemics like Ebola, he presents three ways deforestation unleashes disease and calls on each of us to help preserve the delicate ecological balance we depend upon.

Pandemics often begin with a single spark, like an 18-month-old boy in Guinea catching Ebola from bats in a hollow tree. Deforestation is a leading cause of new animal-borne diseases, as it brings humans and wildlife into risky contact. Over half of known infectious diseases have already worsened due to climate change. Preventing outbreaks by saving nature is far more effective and equitable than relying only on emergency responses.