The Partial Observer by Alex Thomas
Smoke and the Hidden Threat to Public Health
In regard to our scientific response to the pandemic, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha has noted that we got the biology right and the social science wrong. As someone who spent three years as part of a consortium of researchers from Bassett Research Institute, Utica University, and my own SUNY Oneonta studying COVID, I can sadly attest to the accuracy of his statement. Our recent bout with smoke from the fires in Canada is a case in point.
When most people think of science, they remember the splayed-out frog from biology class or turning water into beakers of hydrogen and oxygen. These are the building blocks of our world, but our reality is further organized into what scientists call “complex adaptive systems.” All complex systems have roughly similar properties, and understanding them is what unites meteorologists, evolutionary biologists, and sociologists (like me) in a common cause.
You have reached your limit of 3 free articles
To Continue Reading
Our hard-copy and online publications cover the news of Otsego County by putting the community back into the newspaper. We are funded entirely by advertising and subscriptions. With your support, we continue to offer local, independent reporting that is not influenced by commercial or political ties.
