A comprehensive review has uncovered a significant research gap in understanding the links between biodiversity loss, global pandemics, and climate change. With only 128 studies out of over 1.8 million addressing these interconnected threats, the paper calls for a multidisciplinary approach to find integrated solutions that avoid unintended consequences and promote a sustainable, biodiverse planet.
Integrating research on the spread of infectious diseases, the decline in biodiversity, and climate change could provide mutually beneficial solutions for the health of our planet.
A scientific analysis has uncovered a significant lack of studies exploring the links between three critical risks to the health of our planet, despite United Nations reports indicating that one million species face extinction, a worldwide pandemic has led to more than six million excess deaths, and a record-breaking year of global temperatures.
“When we began to look into it, we had suspicions the number of studies would be low, but not that low,” says Dr. Jonathan Davies, a researcher with the University of British Columbia’s Biodiversity Research Centre who led the study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health.
“There are misperceptions in the research community that more work in this area has already been done—but when you look for studies investigating the mechanisms linking the three crises, there isn’t much there at all. I believe the majority of people would prefer to live in a more sustainable and biodiverse world, and empirical data show that people are healthier and have an increased feeling of well-being when closer to nature.”
Cold snaps in Canada’s Okanagan wine region have resulted in significant loss of grapes, while simultaneously increasing the risk of grapevine fungal disease in surviving vines. Credit: Isidora Silva-Valderrama, University of British Columbia
In a review of over 1.8 million research articles published over the last decade, Dr. Davies and his team uncovered only a minuscule number of studies—128— investigating inter-connected drivers across infectious disease spread, biodiversity loss, and climate change.
Human malaria was cited as a prime example of an emerging poly-crisis being supercharged by overlapping pressures — climate change impacting mosquito distributions, development, and vectors in ways that aren’t straightforward to predict.
The Need for Integrated Solutions
The paper analyzed research studies investing in either infectious disease spread, biodiversity loss, or climate change. While roughly 40,000 studies considered two of the areas in conjunction, only 505 combined research on all three areas. And only 128 actually investigated the mechanistic links connecting all three threats. And in those cases, the studies are overly focused on just three areas: infectious disease in amphibians, forest health, and Lyme disease.
The research team outlines how scientists and policymakers can better study the links and feedback between the crises—making it possible to identify pathways with win-win-win outcomes and also avoiding unintended consequences of only taking action in one area, and ignoring others.
University of British Columbia biodiversity researchers uncover a concerning knowledge gap integrating the study of infectious disease spread, biodiversity loss, and climate change. Credit: Isidora Silva-Valderrama, University of British Columbia
“Greater effort needs to be made to search for solutions with cross-benefits,” adds Dr. Alaina Pfenning-Butterworth, who conducted the study while at UBC Botany.
“For example, planting huge numbers of new trees in order to sequester carbon can appear like a solution to climate change, but may lead to unanticipated consequences —such as loss of native diversity and monoculture forests that are at increased risk of disease outbreaks.”
The paper also argues that despite the best efforts of the research community and funding agencies, scientists from different disciplines need to work together more closely, including veterinary schools, medical schools, ecologists, conservation biologists, and computer scientists.
“I believe the majority of people would prefer to live in a more sustainable and biodiverse world, and empirical data show that people are healthier and have an increased feeling of well-being when closer to nature,” says Dr. Davies.
“But there’s broad scientific consensus that ‘business as usual’ is unsustainable, and we risk approaching a planetary tipping point beyond which reversing course will become exponentially more difficult. We have a valuable window of opportunity to decide how our future looks.”
Reference: “Interconnecting global threats: climate change, biodiversity loss, and infectious diseases” by Alaina Pfenning-Butterworth, Lauren B Buckley, John M Drake, Johannah E Farner, Maxwell J Farrell, Alyssa-Lois M Gehman, Erin A Mordecai, Patrick R Stephens, John L Gittleman and T Jonathan Davies, April 2024, The Lancet Planetary Health.
DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(24)00021-4
