{"id":5574,"date":"2020-03-31T14:51:30","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T13:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/?p=5574"},"modified":"2020-03-31T14:56:11","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T13:56:11","slug":"turning-to-the-experts-on-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/turning-to-the-experts-on-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning to the experts on Covid-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr <\/em><\/strong>Stephen Scoffham looks at how experts are helping with the Covid-19 pandemic and how they can help with a new way of living in harmony with the environment in the future. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

We are getting used to seeing the Prime Minister and senior\npoliticians delivering statements about covid-19 flanked by their chief medical\nofficers. After decades in which expert opinion has been derided in public\ndebate, the importance of scientific advice and evidence has suddenly been re-discovered\nand is once again politically desirable. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We all want to know the facts about this new disease and we\nare turning to doctors and professional researchers for the answers. Given the\nscale and the nature of the current crisis this makes perfect sense. But it is\nimportant to understand that there are limits to what scientists can tell us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of preventive\naction to stop the virus spreading. Governments around the world have\nintervened in different ways as they have sought to interpret the evidence. We\nmay never know for certain whether herd immunity or quarantine are better\npolicies. Furthermore, the damage to the economy resulting from widespread\nlock-down itself carries long term health risks which need to be balanced against\nmore immediate life-saving benefits. These are fine judgements which cannot be\nbased on science alone. A crucial element is our attitude to risk both as\nindividuals and as a society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also need to be wary of depending too heavily on\ntechnology. A vaccine against covid-19 would be hugely valuable but takes time\nto develop and is unlikely to be totally effective anyway. Equally, hygiene and\ncleanliness are vital in containing the spread of covid-19 but can\u2019t be\nexpected to eliminate it. Spraying streets and buildings in towns with powerful\nchemicals, as is happening in some places, parallels the reliance on fungicides\nand insecticides to protect crops. Both bring immediate benefits but working\nagainst the rhythm of life in this way is ultimately unsustainable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are significant parallels between our response to covid-19 and our response to climate change. In both cases, science tells us what is happening and we turn to technology in the hope that it will fix the problem. But as Mike Hulme, one of the world\u2019s experts on climate change argues, such an approach smacks of hubris. It would be better, he contends, to harness science and technology to increase resilience so that we live more sustainably and are more able to cope with unexpected events. Seeking to dominate nature is both undesirable and unattainable.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

There are good reasons to suppose that one of the underlying\ncauses of the current pandemic is the erosion of biodiversity (John Viddal, \u2018Tip\nof the Iceberg\u2019: Is our destruction of nature responsible for Covid-19?\u2019 The\nGuardian <\/em>March 3rd<\/sup> 2020). Economic development, he points out,\nis leading to degraded habitats and a proliferation of species most likely to\ntransmit new diseases to humans.  There\nis now a new discipline called planetary health which focuses on the\nconnections between the well-being of human beings and other forms of life. This\nrecognises that people are part of nature and do not stand apart from or above\nit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recalibrating science and technology so that they support\nthe larger objective of eco-centric thinking, could be one of the positive\noutcomes of the current crisis. We are going to need the experts more than ever\nin the years ahead, but it is important to see they channel their efforts\ntowards the search for new ways of living that are in balance and harmony with\nthe planet that supports us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Stephen Scoffham is a Visiting Reader in Sustainability<\/a> and Education<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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