Pandemics—the global spread of infectious diseases—seem to be making a comeback. In the Middle Ages we had the Black Death (plague), and after the First World War we had the Spanish flu. Tens of millions of people died from these diseases .
Then science began to get the upper hand , with vaccination eradicating smallpox, and polio nearly so. Antibiotics became available to treat bacterial infections, and more recently antivirals as well. But in recent years and decades, pandemics seem to be returning .
In the 1980s we had HIV/AIDS, then several flu pandemics, SARS, and now COVID (no, COVID isn't over). So why is this happening, and is there anything we can do to avert future pandemics? Unbalanced ecosystems Healthy, stable ecosystems provide services that keep us healthy, such as supplying food and clean water, producing oxygen, and making green spaces available for our recreation and well-being . Another key service ecosystems provide is disease regulation.
When nature is in balance—with predators controlling herbivore populations, and herbivores controlling plant growth—it's more difficult for pathogens to emerge in a way that causes pandemics. But when human activities disrupt and unbalance ecosystems —such as by way of climate change and biodiversity loss— things go wrong . For example, climate change affects the number and distribution of plants and animals.
Mosquitoes that carry diseases can move from the tropics into what used to be temperate climates as th.
