'Apocalyptic' contagion and invasive species
The strangest aspect of the coming film 鈥淐ontagion鈥� 鈥� which depicts a fictional pandemic caused by a mutating flu virus 鈥� may be how untrendy it is. Such disease thrillers still try to scare people into believing they must isolate themselves from each other or from the natural world. They seem to scream, 鈥淟ife was just fine in our Edens before alien species showed up! We must all go back, go back to a pristine place!鈥�
(Spoiler alert about the film鈥檚 real aim, as stated by one producer: 鈥淵ou can sell a lot of tickets if you find a fresh way to scare people.鈥�)
Of course, we should all be alert to contagious diseases. But overreacting 鈥� with fear fed by Hollywood and other media 鈥� can also be harmful. And it鈥檚 time to recognize recent calls by many intellectuals for humans to find new ways to deal with 鈥渋nvasive鈥� species 鈥� from viruses to Asian carp to kudzu to tree-eating beetles.
Two new books challenge the notion that every movement of a species into a new habitat is evil and must be rolled back.
One is 鈥淩ambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World,鈥� by Emma Marris. She argues that we must 鈥済ive up romantic notions of a stable Eden鈥� and make complex choices about managing nature, often with conflicting goals. 鈥淲e鈥檝e forever altered the Earth, and so now we cannot abandon it to a random fate,鈥� writes Ms. Marris.
She also states: 鈥淎esthetic and spiritual values are not limited to native or pristine-seeming places.鈥� Niagara Falls, for example, can be turned off with a switch at an upriver hydroelectric plant and yet visitors still enjoy its 鈥渘atural鈥� majesty.
Her book echoes a recent plea from 19 ecologists in the magazine Nature not to judge species simply on their origins and instead manage 鈥渆xotic鈥� species for their practical impact. Cries of an 鈥渁pocalyptic threat to biodiversity鈥� by 鈥渘onnative鈥� species don鈥檛 always match the facts.
The second book is 鈥�1493: Uncov颅ering the New World Columbus Created,鈥� by Charles C. Mann. It looks at five centuries of people transferring species across the globe, such as the transfer of Brazilian rubber trees to Asia. He proposes a new name to describe this era of a globalized ecology: Homogenocene (or, the age of homogeneity). He claims this bioblending, either good or bad, is the most significant change on the planet since the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The book鈥檚 basic premise is this: Those humans that are adaptable and who explore new frontiers have long won out over those who want tradition and stability. And it is now best that we all adapt to change and not simply oppose it.
Is Hollywood listening?
