Post by Summre Blakely on Nov 6, 2016 22:48:12 GMT
While I was trying to figure out what I wanted to add to this discussion board, I found this article from UC Berkeley written by a Glen Martin, entitled "Doomsday 2: No One Knows When the Next Plague Will Come, Only That it Will." Holy cow, if you want to scare yourself, read it! The link is: alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/summer-2014-apocalypse/doomsday-2-no-one-knows-when-next-plague-will-come-only
An interesting topic I discovered in the article was the relative safety of the world today compared to the times of the Black Death, in the 1300s. At first, my immediate thought was that of course today is safer, what with all of the knowledge and experience our scientists have when it comes to dealing with pathogens and creating vaccines. However, as the article pointed out, this might not be the case. We as a species are extremely overpopulated, and we live in a society that demands interpersonal contact to succeed in our daily lives. Not only are we living in megacities as Lex pointed out, but we are also able to reach any other part of the world via a relatively quick airplane ride. For further expansion, here is a paragraph from the article cited above:
"'Everything considered, the modern world is a downside when it comes to disease control,' said Aragón. 'Look at what the Spanish Flu epidemic did in 1918, when it was relatively difficult for people to get around. Within a year, it had infected people on every continent. And today, we’re a much more complex, connected, and interdependent society. No place on earth is more than a multi-hour jet flight from anyplace else. That kind of complexity vastly increases our vulnerability. It allows for cascades of transmission.'”
So, what do you think? Are there any viruses out there that have the potential to become the next pandemic??
An interesting topic I discovered in the article was the relative safety of the world today compared to the times of the Black Death, in the 1300s. At first, my immediate thought was that of course today is safer, what with all of the knowledge and experience our scientists have when it comes to dealing with pathogens and creating vaccines. However, as the article pointed out, this might not be the case. We as a species are extremely overpopulated, and we live in a society that demands interpersonal contact to succeed in our daily lives. Not only are we living in megacities as Lex pointed out, but we are also able to reach any other part of the world via a relatively quick airplane ride. For further expansion, here is a paragraph from the article cited above:
"'Everything considered, the modern world is a downside when it comes to disease control,' said Aragón. 'Look at what the Spanish Flu epidemic did in 1918, when it was relatively difficult for people to get around. Within a year, it had infected people on every continent. And today, we’re a much more complex, connected, and interdependent society. No place on earth is more than a multi-hour jet flight from anyplace else. That kind of complexity vastly increases our vulnerability. It allows for cascades of transmission.'”
So, what do you think? Are there any viruses out there that have the potential to become the next pandemic??
