Scientists have found links between air pollution in many forms, such as forest fire smoke, and an increased risk of adverse health effects including brain disorders.

Wildfires have been prevalent as we fight this battle with Climate change. Wildfires release noxious chemical compounds as they burn and are adding to the particulate matter we breathe in.

The greatest potential for health problems comes from minuscule particles, smaller than 2.5 microns – or PM 2.5 (for context, the width of a human hair is typically 50 to 70 microns). This is, in part, because tiny particles are easily inhaled; from the lungs, they enter the bloodstream and circulate widely throughout the body.

Neurotoxins in the environment are damaging human brain health – and more frequent fires and floods may make the problem worse

Research shows these particles can promote brain inflammation, leading to dementia, and Parkinson’s disease. Prenatal and early life exposure to these particles has been linked to an increased risk of autisim.

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Deforestation can contribute to pandemics more than you may realize. When we wipe out forest space, forcing animals to live in smaller more densely populated environments, humans are more likely to come into contact with the infectious microbes these animals can carry. Animals themselves are also more likely to exchange infectious microbes, creating novel viruses, when they live in close quarters.

Yet despite years of global outcry, deforestation still runs rampant. An average of 28 million hectares of forest have been cut down annually since 2016, and there is no sign of a slowdown.

Stopping Deforestation Can Prevent Pandemics

Some of the most infectious viruses of the past two decades like Ebola, SARS, and SARS-CoV-2, have come from animals in dense tropical forests. Not only does deforestation increase the risks for novel viruses like this but it increases the spread of other viruses that originated in rain forests. A study released in 2019 showed that raising deforestation by 10% would result in a 3.3% rise in malaria cases or 7.4 million people around the world.

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To decrease deforestation we as a society should eat less meat, eat less processed foods, and waste less food, lessening the demand for pastures and crops for biofuels and palm oils. Additionally, slowing population growth can slow deforestation. Providing women in developing countries with better education and access to contraceptives can slow population growth.

As we implement these solutions, we can also find new outbreaks earlier. Epidemiologists want to tiptoe into wild habitats and test mammals known to carry coronaviruses—bats, rodents, badgers, civets, pangolins and monkeys—to map how the germs are moving. 

Stopping Deforestation Can Prevent Pandemics

The Karipuna people in the Brazilian Amazon are in isolation due to COVID-19, but the presence of loggers close to their villages is compromising their efforts to stay safe. The Karipuna Indigenous People’s Association (Apoika), Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi), and Greenpeace Brasil have filed a joint complaint with the local federal prosecutor’s office. Multiple complaints by both Brazil and international agencies have been submitted in regards to relentless logging and land invasion in the Rondônia state where the Karipunia live. The current pandemic means the invasion of indigenous land is especially dangerous for the occupants of the land.

We are scared that one of these invaders will bring the virus inside our territory…Bolsonaro has told these people that it’s just a little flu and that they can go back to work.”

Adriano Karipuna, one of the group’s leaders – Mongabay

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The Yanomami people in the Roraima state are experiencing the same threats. Illegal mining activity in the region has not ceased during the pandemic, and a 15-year-old Yanomami boy has died from the coronavirus.

Both the Amazon and the indigenous peoples who live there are vulnerable right now. Many native customs facilitate the spread of respiratory diseases. Other factors like poor sanitation, immune systems that are not used to contact with many modern diseases, and a lack of healthcare facilities will exacerbate the risk. Meanwhile, deforestation attempts have not slowed. Clearance rates are 10% higher this year than they were for the same period last year. In addition, deforestation figures for August 2019 to the end of March 2020 are twice the rate they were for August 2018 to the end of March 2019.

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Sources:

• Amazon indigenous put at risk by Brazil’s feeble Covid-19 response: Critics – Mongabay
• In the midst of the pandemic, squatters and invaders approach Karipuna village – CIMI.org
• Amid covid-19, gold digging advances and approaches isolated Indians in Roraima – BBC Brasil
• Boy from isolated Amazon tribe dies of COVID-19, raising fears of devastating outbreak – Japan Times