With the permafrost across the cold regions of our planet such as in Russia, Canada, and Alaska, slowly melting, the resurgence of viruses thought to have been long gone, such as smallpox, as well as viruses we have never seen before, could soon be wreaking havoc in our planet.
These could be disaster movie storylines, but they are also serious and increasingly plausible scenarios of epidemics unleashed by global warming, scientists say.
Climate change—already wreaking havoc with one degree Celsius of warming—is also emerging as a driver of infectious disease, whether by expanding the footprint of malaria- and dengue-carrying mosquitos, or defrosting prehistoric pathogens from the Siberian permafrost.
"In my darkest moments, I see a really horrible future for Homo sapiens because we are an animal, and when we extend our borders things will happen to us," said Birgitta Evengard, a researcher in clinical microbiology at Umea University in Sweden.
"Our biggest enemy is our own ignorance," she added. "Nature is full of microorganisms."
And perhaps the sad thing about this is that this awakening is inevitable.
Even if humanity manages to cap global warming at under two degrees Celsius, the cornerstone goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement, the permafrost area will decrease by a quarter by 2100, according to the UN's climate science panel, the IPCC.
In other words, we will have to deal with this sooner or later.
More details about this over at PHYS.org.
(Image Credit: FlorenceD-pix/ Pixabay)
Comments (1)
Not sure if it counts, but I've also had durian. Since you can't find it fresh where I live, it was frozen. To be honest, not sure what to make of it. It did smell funny, and the taste wasn't easily comparable to anything else, so I would rather not make such a quick judgement. I've talked to friends in Malaysia and Singapore, and even there it seems to be something of a love/hate.
Buddha's hand is pretty much all rind and pith from what I remember, so it smells nice and you can make marmalade, but are otherwise limited to things that can just use its zest or oil. Unless you get it cheap, it is more ornamental than for use as food.
Chayote was really disappointing to me, as the couple times I tried using it, it had almost no flavor of its own. Unless I had it growing on my own property, or it was the same price range as potatoes and plantains, it wasn't worth it to me.
Dragonfruit for a while was easier to find dried than fresh for me. Dried it isn't as expensive, but is quite different. Because it had so many seeds, the dried form was more like a slightly flavored sesame or rice cracker. The fresh ones are usually very expensive, but at least better quality, and worth a try for the novelty (unlike say starfruit, which seem to be as expensive where I am, but horrible quality compared to when I lived further south).
The other odd fruit I've taken a liken to is jackfruit, which I can get cheap ice cream and fruit bars for at an Asian supermarket. The normal grocery store started carrying the fruit, but typically just puts out a single, whole, basketball-size fruit for $40, which sits there for several weeks. At the end of its shelf-life it does get cut up and packaged, but disappears quickly. I haven't asked if they could cut it up at any other point, but could just go to the Asian supermarket anyway where it is always stocked in cut pieces.
We have chayote also, and I agree with the other poster that is doesn't have a lot of flavor on its own, but it is often prepared with other flavorful items, and it takes on their flavor. They taste delicious is meat-based soups. There's a dessert that some of our friends make using honey, chayote, and some sort of light cheese, and they fry the whole thing, and it tastes pretty amazing.
A couple other exotic fruits they have here are granadillas and guaba. Granadillas look about the size of a tangerine on the outside, but when you open them up, it is reminiscent of a bag of snot, full of slimy sunflower seeds. Maybe a tangerine full of fish eggs or something. Either way, I was unable to eat very much of it. The Guabas look like a giant pea pod. But when you split it open, instead of peas, there are little fruit-like seed things. I think you sort of suck on them, like the mamón chinos I mentioned earlier.
Durian - I like. But it is "fussy". It can taste sweet and custardy when it is on the edge of ripe. But one minute past ripe and it is slimey and just a yucky taste.
Cherimoya - I like. Also a custardy pear like flavor. But leave it in the fridge and the flavor goes out.
I like Rambutan. They are very similar in flavor to the lychee. I prefer lychee over rambutan though.
There are two fruits that I would like to add. I do think they are an acquired taste though.
Santol and Duhat.
Santol has a leathery outside, but white sour and tart flesh inside. Best eaten with salt. The salt makes the tart and sour a bit sweet. I cannot describe what flavors it is closest to though.
Duhat - I know they are known as java plum in other parts of the world. Their flavor is like a deep dark bitter sweet flavor. Like a sweet black currant and a white cherry flavor. They make your mouth water, from the astringent properties in the skins.
Two sweet fruits some of you might not know: caimito, purple and white inside, black seeds ; and mamey, reddish brown with a huge black seed, like a pink avocado. Both are truly delicious.