A blog to give a voice to our concern about the continued erosion of our democratic processes not only within the House of Commons and within our electoral system but also throughout our society. Here you will find articles about the current problems within our parliamentary democracy, about actions both good and bad by our elected representatives, about possible solutions, opinions and debate about the state of democracy in Canada, and about our roles/responsibilities as democratic citizens. We invite your thoughtful and polite comments upon our posts and ask those who wish to post longer articles or share ideas on this subject to submit them for inclusion as a guest post.
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Sunday, March 15, 2020

Perspective......

The common flu causes up to 5 million cases of severe illness worldwide and kills up to 650,000 people every year, according to the World Health Organization 
By comparison thus far there are approximately 125,000 cases of COVID19 reported and less than 5,000 deaths according to the WHO
In the US The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that so far this season, there have been at least 15 million flu illnesses for the 2019-2020 season, 140,000 hospitalizations and 8,200 deaths in the U.S.

The reduction in transatlantic flights due to concerns over spreading the virus will be very good for the air we breath. A plane like a Boeing 747 uses approximately 1 gallon of fuel (about 4 liters) every second. Over the course of a 10-hour flight, it might burn 36,000 gallons (150,000 liters). According to Boeing's Web site, the 747 burns approximately 5 gallons of fuel per mile (12 liters per kilometer).

According to ATAG, there are roughly 100,000 scheduled flights per day globally. To this we must add general aviation, air taxis, military, and cargo. In the US, scheduled flights are 1/3 of all flight (according to NOAA). Extrapolation would give a worldwide total of 300,000 daily flights.

Dramatic footage from the European Space Agency Copernicus satellite reveals a 'notable drop' in air pollution over Italy after the coronavirus lockdown. ESA shared an animation that showed a significant change in the pollution levels over Italy between January and March The same ESA satellite also revealed a drop in air pollution over China with tiny particles slahed in the wake of coronavirus.  The country's government closed down much of its industrial activity and restricted air and car travel to limit the spread of the killer virus.

There is little doubt that the virus can be a serious issue particularly for those folks not in good heath in the first place, the issue seems to be made more alarming by the speed with which such new illnesses can now be spread by the ease of world wide travel and our reliance upon vaccines (currently unavailable for this flu like bug) to protect us.

More Perspective......
Global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 7.616 billion (in 2018.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth

A self defeating growth and travel perhaps?



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4 comments:

Lorne said...

Thanks for the post and links, Rural. They make for some very interesting reading.

March 15, 2020 at 9:47 AM
Rural said...

Its hard to find reasonable middle ground with all the rhetoric flowing Lorne

March 15, 2020 at 10:19 AM
Owen Gray said...

These are difficult times, Rural. But something good may come from all of this.

March 15, 2020 at 10:40 AM
Rural said...

Your post today outlines some of the things that 'should' be done Owen, but will our 'leaders' put our interests ahead of that of the corporate lobby is the question!

March 15, 2020 at 11:05 AM

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