” COVID-19 and Forest Fires – Potential for Political Vulnerabilities ? ” – September 12, 2020.

Oregon fires.

          ” Symptoms by themselves are not diseases “,  say Medical experts often. 

          Headaches, fever …  are only the signs, symptoms, and external manifestations of diseases according to Medical experts.

          In the same manner, COVID-19 has also to be viewed as symptoms of more serious problems facing our lives.

          Climate Change,  Environmental Degradation,  and loss of lives – not just human but all other animals, birds, (land and marine) and even plants – have been recognised as posing serious danger accelerating the destruction of the World itself. It is like Nature flying into a fury when a series of contagious diseases strike at the lives of people all over the world.

          The world stood in shocked silence when the Amazon Forest Fires erupted last year. Following that was the Australian bush fires spreading the smoke over New Zealand, Pacific Ocean, South Africa, and upto Argentina revealing its deadly serious nature.

California fires.

          America now faces the fury of Nature in two ways :  COVID-19  and  Wildfires in the West. Thousands of people from California, Oregon, and Washington have been shifted to safe havens. Some small towns in these areas have been completely ignited and destroyed. Lakhs of hectares of farm land (arable land) have also been affected, according to reports.

          People all over the World have been the victims (at some point in their lives) of Nature’s Fury in terms of floods, drought, cyclones/storms, …

          The seriousness of these disasters also increase by each season. Just to escape and prevent oneself from these deadly happenings, individuals have been compelled to suffer losses of either property or even their lives.

          COVID-19 is not an exception to this fury. It cannot be dismissed as a one time disaster. Our future will definitely be marked by such occurrences every few years. We have been witness to this phenomenon already.

Animals likely affected in Amazon Kindle of fires.

          The destruction caused will not be limited to human lives but also that of other creatures too. We may be the late sufferers even as we represent and be the cause of other creatures’s   sufferings for centuries.

          Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in its report had recorded that from 1970 to 2006 there has been a 68% decrease in World Wildlife. In its report, ” Living Planet Report 2020″, it has monitored and recorded the status of 21000 species of animals revealing shockingly surprising facts. In Latin America, specially, it says that animal life has been endangered for more than 50 years. In the Asia Pacific region, a significant reduction in their numbers has been evidenced. India sports the most worrying situation comparatively. It has cautioned that 12% of wildlife and 3% of birds are on their path to destruction. The report emphasises its role in safeguarding animals –  land and marine – and birds in the world.

          Since 1970 there has been a decrease of 4% every year adducing human causes as the chief reason for the fall observed. About 75% of the habitable areas have been changed in one way or another by human actions.

          Conversion of forest areas into living areas for human habitation spread fast. Result : the destruction of wildlife habitat and their lives. Even the seas are not spared. Fishing industry is an extremely profitable business. Coastal, freshwater, and deep sea fishing pose dangers to the lives of marine species.

          The brief description above is enough to view the COVID-19 and Wildfires in the West (U.S.A.) as merely the symptoms, warnings, and a portentous sign to major catastrophes in the future. 

           With the Presidential election slated for November 3,  with mail-in ballots already in process, the two challenges above hold the potential to be transformed into political vulnerabilities.

          American citizens will be eagerly watching the Leadership moves and strategies of control by the major candidates with keen interest.

   ” Dieu avec nous “

   Saturday, September 12, 2020 –  11.59 a.m. (IST)

   Tidbit  :  ”  It is known wildfires behave unpredictably – this is fundamental – but it is the experience that humans in the presence of wildfire are also likely to behave in aberrant and unproductive ways ”  – Michael Leunig.