Category: COVID-19

It’s wrong to blame bats for the coronavirus epidemic

Read the full story at The Conversation.

Genomic research showing that the COVID-19 coronavirus likely originated in bats has produced heavy media coverage and widespread concern. There is now danger that frightened people and misguided officials will try to curb the epidemic by culling these remarkable creatures, even though this strategy has failed in the past.

As an environmental historian focusing on endangered species and biological diversity, I know that bats provide valuable services to humans and need protection. Instead of blaming bats for the coronavirus epidemic, I believe it’s important to know more about them. Here’s some background explaining why they carry so many viruses, and why these viruses only jump infrequently to humans – typically, when people hunt bats or intrude into places where bats live.

Poor water infrastructure puts world at greater risk from coronavirus

Read the full story in The Guardian.

On World Water Day, UN warns that more than half the global population lacking access to safely managed sanitation

Lab Energy Shutdown Tips

Read the full story from Cornell University’s Green Labs Program. My Green Lab also offers a good checklist.

Use this checklist to quickly ramp down energy use during reduced research schedules. To get started, make a checklist of equipment that can be temporarily “decommissioned” including computers, equipment, refrigerators, freezers, and fume hoods. Use post-it notes to quickly canvas your lab space and identify items that can be powered down to save energy.

Uniting business to tackle COVID-19

Read the full story in GreenBiz.

As the world wakes up to the full global threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has declared war on this virus. His message is clear: As a human family, we are in this together and we will get through it together. The spread of the virus will peak and our economies will recover. 

In the meantime, we must act together to slow its spread and look out for each other, not least those who are most at risk — the elderly and the sick, the poor and the marginalized. Also, we must pay close attention to those most vulnerable to its economic impact: small businesses; workers in the supply chain; and women, who often shoulder a disproportionate burden of care. 

Amidst the real and rising risk of a global recession, financial markets are plunging, and the U.N. Secretary-General has urged us to stay calm and collected: “This is a time for prudence, not panic. Science, not stigma. Facts, not fear.”  

As a global business community, let’s be guided by this message of determination, solidarity and prudence in the weeks and months ahead. Let’s draw from the power of the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact and stand united and face the COVID-19 pandemic.  

This carbon-negative hand sanitizer is made from captured CO2

Read the full story in Fast Company.

Across the country, many distilleries are switching from making booze to making sanitizer. Air Co.’s carbon-neutral vodka factory is doing the same.