As COVID-19 spreads across the globe, a common question is, can infectious diseases be connected to environmental change? Yes, indicates a study published today from the University of California, Davis' One Health Institute.
The environmental changes wrought by the coronavirus were first visible from space. Then, as the disease and the lockdown spread, they could be sensed in the sky above our heads, the air in our lungs and even the ground beneath our feet.
The Nature Conservancy in collaboration with Conservation Science Partners recently produced the Global Human Modification map (HM) based on modeling how much (spatial extent) and at what magnitude (intensity) 13 different human activities impact terrestrial lands, ecoregions, and biomes.