Comments 6

任务：拯救环境

Jul 15, 2016 Sean B. Carroll

切维蔡斯，马里兰州—想象这样的图景。在1966年，你站在华盛顿的一间政府办公室里，看到一位身着制服的官员对一位商务打扮的人说：“你的任务是消灭一个敌人，这个敌人杀掉的人比两次世界大战加起来还要多。你将获得一丁点儿预算、一个小团队，如果你失败了，部长将否认知情你的行动。”

听起来像是好莱坞电影场景。是的，这就是当年首播的《碟中谍》电视剧的的开头。但它确实发生了，只不过用的不是这些词句。官员是助理军医处长詹姆斯·沃特（James Watt）；获得任务的是传染病中心（CDC）科学家唐纳德·亨德森（Donald Henderson）；而敌人是天花。

这个任务看上去绝对是不可能完成的。当时，每年天花杀死的人数高达两百万，另有1,500万人被传染。亨德森和他的世界卫生组织（WHO）团队超越了人们的预期。只花了十年略多的时间，天花就成为第一个——到目前为止也是唯一一个——被完全根除的人类传染病。

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 8 in all 8 Comments on this article

Steve Hurst Jul 19, 2016

In India 2/3rds of the population of over 1 bilion have no idea of the concept of climate change. That country is not alone
Marc Laventurier Jul 16, 2016

Sean's command of his highly technical field is no doubt profound but seems in no way to inspire his use of analogy as a commentator. An ecological 'vaccine' might consist in rigorously enforced universal environmental regulation, and an immediate 'cure' might require the shutdown of the coal industry worldwide (followed promptly by the public hanging of their proprietors and political protectors, one would hope. After all, 'business as usual' is the disease...)
Michael Public Jul 16, 2016

The most important thing I draw from your article is that the US and the USSR supported the smallpox effort - even if donations were limited. The problem with 'saving the environment' is that those who wield power today are strictly against such efforts. This is simple economics and nothing to do with bad morals - it is because it costs shareholders serious money to do so - especially when foreign companies can compete with them without complying. Further, politicians must largely kow-tow to business because of campaign contributions. The net result is that the best we can do is the sad joke that was Paris - an unbinding commitment to maybe, if they feel like it, keep the temperature increases below a completely unacceptable figure, or not.
Charles Van Schilt Jul 15, 2016

Interestingly enough I was just reading an article on truthdig entitled "Hooked on Fossil Fuels Forever" Posted on Jul 15, 2016
written by Michael T. Klare / TomDispatch. The reality is that we are too political and economically addicted to fossil fuels and any attempt to get off them will only run directly against the forces which currently control much of our society. So the only force strong enough to change human behavior will be nature and it's ministrations unfortunately are never kind. It will devour us as if we didn't even exist. Sorry for the pessimism but if you are going to propose hope you better know what you are up against. The comparison between eradicating smallpox and saving the environment are hugely different because the forces arraigned against this are vastly different and are so much more complex because they are so much more intertwined into our civilization. I believe most people are too unknowledgeable to really understand the difficultly involved. This is both a metaphysical as well as a epistemological problem and needs a huge philosophical change in human thinking which I don't see, at least from my 70 years living on this world. Good luck with that though.
Curtis Carpenter Jul 15, 2016

Thank you for an inspirational article -- but I despair of our ability to summon any collective will in an economically over-determined age in which supply and demand trumps even well being and existence.

But perhaps the key is to build some momentum though a few small victories, and to step by small step.
Emanuel Müller Jul 15, 2016

Human primates are part of the environment for say non-human primates, and vice versa. In a non-anthropocentric view, dna and rna code based things on this planet are quite a mutually dependent lot, e.g. human primates depending on plants or plants eating animals for some types of amino acids. On a whole other level, plants are dependent on non-dna or rna things like the sun for photosynthesis. One thing is clear,dna and rna life can't currently be eradicated by humanity, making the "environment" not something that needs saving. However, it would be great if we could learn to see the sacred value of the Earth as it allows us but also other animal types, plants and whatnot the opportunity to learn and grow. If we have to develop to learn to be happy without plundering and exterminating we might some inspiration by the rare known cases of balance with nature, like the Sentinelese people (before they get exterminated by the rise of the oceans). How about envisioning a post technological era?
- Emanuel Müller Jul 17, 2016
  
  @ Michael Public Well our "totale Vernichtungs" capabilities, nuclear or otherwise would face an uphill battle, to say the least, against such creatures as Deinococcus radiodurans, the thermophiles not to mention stuff that bases itself on chemosynthesis at the bottom of the oceans. There are also funny examples of surprise underground life forms too, like in the Movile cave in Romania, during 2 million years. As for the environment, it's always fluid, very unlike a snapshot give or take a few million years it can reevolve from procaryotes only to procaryotes plus monocellular eucaryotes, than multicellulars organisms etc. right up to creatures debating if saturated fats are healthy or not.
- Michael Public Jul 16, 2016
  
  "One thing is clear,dna and rna life can't currently be eradicated by humanity,"
  
  How is this clear at all?
  Besides - you are changing the definition of the way these words are commonly used. Having a few cockroaches survive a nuke war is hardly considered saving the environment.

http://prosyn.org/CJPKqj7/zh;

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任务：拯救环境

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