Coronavirus Pandemic: A Symptom of Our Mass Extinction
UCSB Professor Says Ecological and Human Health Are Inseparable
Ultraviolet light is one of the antagonists that works against the virus SARS-CoV-2 responsible for COVID-19. | Credit: NIAID Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML), U.S. NIH
Deer, monkeys, coyotes, wild boars, mountain goats, pumas, and, of course, lots and lots of rats. In recent weeks, photographs of wild animals wandering through deserted cities have circulated widely in the press and on social media. At once haunting and reassuring, these images — rooted in film and literature — remind us that even in a moment of global crisis, nature is resilient. Life goes on.
Yet they are profoundly misleading.
Some, like the now-famous photograph of dolphins frolicking in a crystal-clear Venice canal, were fakes. But even the unaltered photographs distract from a larger truth.
