Why our shrinking natural world is increasing the pace of global pandemics

As we live in closer proximity to wild animals, there’s more chance of viruses hopping from species to species—and it’s happening more and more. Conservation is suddenly a public health issue. While pandemics and major epidemics have been defining moments throughout history, compared to now, they used to be relatively rare. That’s changing this century: first came SARS, then the swine flu, MERS, a new outbreak of Ebola, Zika, Dengue fever, and now COVID-19. And while scientists race to d...