Riccardo Pansini

Theories on evolution of cooperation assume that interacting individuals can change their strategies under different expected payoffs and cultural contexts. The willingness to invest resources into partners and to cooperate may therefore vary in collectivistic Eastern Asia as opposed to more individualistic Western countries partly because of cultural differences. An experiment was implemented examining the willingness of young Chinese subjects to mitigate the consequences of climate change in a country severely affected by air pollution. We set up a public goods game in which groups of six students had to reach a minimum investment threshold to be able to save funds for a reforestation project to curb climate change. Such social dilemma could not be solved in the western world. Here, instead, five out of eight Chinese groups cooperate enough to raise funds for the reforestation goal. An Individualism/Collectivism questionnaire we presented the subjects with established why we are confronted with a variance in cooperation interests across different cultures. In China, in fact, collectivistic values seem to be a key factor for allowing the emergence of this environmentally driven cooperation.

Theories on evolution of cooperation assume that interacting individuals can change their strategies under different expected payoffs and cultural contexts. The willingness to invest resources into partners and to cooperate may therefore vary in collectivistic Eastern Asia as opposed to more individualistic Western countries partly because of cultural differences. An experiment was implemented examining the willingness of young Chinese subjects to mitigate the consequences of climate change in a country severely affected by air pollution. Following a design already implemented in Germany (Jacquet et al. 2013 Nat Clim Change), we set up a public goods game in which groups of six students had to reach a minimum investment threshold to be able to save funds for a reforestation project to curb climate change. Differently from the German model in which none of the groups managed to reach the threshold, five out of eight Chinese groups cooperate successfully to reach the reforestation goal. We attribute to cultural differences of individualism and collectivism the main explanation for these different results. In China, in fact, collectivistic values allow for the emergence of this environmentally driven cooperation.

The chapter describes how the switch toward a decentralisation of data storage can potentially advance the human economy and society to a new, unprecedented level as not seen since the origin of agriculture. Starting from the inception of the internet, its related I.T. developments are recalled going from a truly open and collaborative circumscribed network to the gradual establishment of new network nodes. During this time, I.T. corporations have profited greatly becoming larger and larger and making the internet much more centralised. However, thanks to the blockchains, there is now the possibility to go partly back to a more “liberal” state of the networks in which more weight is given back to minor network nodes. In this manner, human cooperation would increase enormously. Request access from your librarian to read this chapter's full text.

COVID-19 escalated into a pandemic posing humanitarians and scientific challenges. We explored the geographical feature of the first wave infection and correlated it with annual satellite and ground indexes of air quality in eight countries: China, U.S.A, Italy, Iran, France, Spain, Germany, and U.K. Controlling for population size, we found more viral infections in those areas which were afflicted by high PM 2.5 and nitrogen dioxide values. Higher mortality was also correlated with relatively poor air quality. This phenomenon also occurs in China when removing, the city of Wuhan and its province from the dataset. For long recognised to be a high-risk factor for several respiratory-related diseases and conditions, air pollution seems to be a risk factor for COVID-19 too. This finding suggests the detrimental impact climate change will have on the trajectory of future respiratory epidemics. Previous Asian epidemics and the Ebola have brought forward evidence of the natural causes of zoonoses which have become more threatening due to land-use change, ensued lack of a buffer zone between the cities and the forests, and our closer proximity to wild pathogens. Together with air pollution, these elements illustrate the need to stick to the UN targets limiting biodiversity loss and climate change.

COVID-19 escalated into a pandemic posing several humanitarian as well as scientific challenges. We here investigated the geographical character of the early spread of the infection and correlated it with several annual satellite and ground indexes of air quality in China, the United States, Italy, Iran, France, Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The time of the analysis corresponded with the end of the first wave infection in China, namely June 2020. We found more viral infections in those areas afflicted by high PM 2.5 and nitrogen dioxide values. Higher mortality was also correlated with relatively poor air quality. In Italy, the correspondence between the Po Valley pollution and SARS-CoV-2 infections and induced mortality was the starkest, originating right in the most polluted European area. Spain and Germany did not present a noticeable gradient of pollution levels causing non-significant correlations. Densely populated areas were often hotspots of lower air quality levels but were not always correlated with a higher viral incidence. Air pollution has long been recognised as a high risk factor for several respiratory-related diseases and conditions, and it now appears to be a risk factor for COVID-19 as well. As such, air pollution should always be included as a factor for the study of airborne epidemics and further included in public health policies.

We investigated the geographical character of the COVID-19 infection in China and correlated it with satellite- and ground-based measurements of air quality. Controlling for population density, we found more viral infections in those prefectures (U.S. county equivalent) afflicted by high Carbon Monoxide, Formaldehyde, PM 2.5, and Nitrogen Dioxide values. Higher mortality was also correlated with relatively poor air quality. When summarizing the results at a greater administrative level, we found that the 10 provinces (U.S. state equivalent) with the highest rate of mortality by COVID-19, were often the most polluted but not the most densely populated. Air pollution appears to be a risk factor for the incidence of this disease, despite the conventionally apprehended influence of human mobility on disease dynamics from the site of first appearance, Wuhan. The raw correlations reported here should be interpreted in a broader context, accounting for the growing evidence reported by several other studies. These findings warn communities and policymakers on the implications of long-term air pollution exposure as an ecological, multi-scale public health issue.

We investigated the geographical character of the COVID-19 infection in China and correlated it with satellite- and ground-based measurements of air quality. Controlling for population size, we found more viral infections in those areas afflicted by high Carbon Monoxide, formaldehyde, PM 2.5, and Nitrogen Dioxide values. Higher mortality was also correlated with relatively poor air quality. Air pollution appears to be a risk factor for the incidence of this disease, similar to smoking. This suggests the detrimental impact of air pollution in these types of respiratory epidemics. Short summary: There is a significant correlation between air pollution and COVID-19 spread and mortality in China. The correlation stands at a second-order administration level, after controlling for varying population densities and removing Wuhan and Hubei from the dataset. Living in an area with low air quality is a risk factor for becoming infected and dying from this new form of coronavirus.

COVID-19 has spread in all continents in a span of just over three months, escalating into a pandemic that poses several humanitarian as well as scientific challenges. We here investigated the geographical character of the infection and correlate it with several annual satellite and ground indexes of air quality in: China, the United States, Italy, Iran, France, Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Controlling for population size, we found more viral infections in those areas afflicted by high PM 2.5 and Nitrogen Dioxide values. Higher mortality was also correlated with relatively poor air quality. In Italy, the correspondence between the Po valley pollution and SARS-CoV-2 infections and induced mortality was the starkest, originating right in the most polluted European area. Air pollution appears to be for this disease a risk factor similar to smoking. This suggests the detrimental impact climate change will have on the trajectory of future respiratory epidemics.

COVID-19 has spread in all continents in a span of just over three months, escalating into a pandemic that poses several humanitarian as well as scientific challenges. We here investigated the geographical expansion of the infection and correlate it with the annual indexes of air quality observed from the Sentinel-5 satellite orbiting around China, Italy and the U.S.A. Controlling for population size, we find more viral infections in those areas afflicted by Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO ₂ ). Higher mortality was also correlated with poor air quality, namely with high PM2.5, CO and NO ₂ values. In Italy, the correspondence between poor air quality and SARS-CoV-2 appearance and induced mortality was the starkest. Similar to smoking, people living in polluted areas are more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infections and induced mortality. This further suggests the detrimental impact climate change will have on the trajectory of future epidemics. Significance: We found a significant correlation between levels of air quality and COVID-19 spread and mortality in China, Italy and the United States. Despite the infection being still ongoing at a global level, these correlations are relatively robust not being influenced by varying population densities. Living in an area with low air quality seems to be a risk factor for becoming infected and dying from this new form of coronavirus.

Social living groups are organised in social hierarchies often exhibiting inequalities in beings. Investigating class segregation and the use of punishment applied downward in the rank acts as a key aspect to ascertain how dominant and subordinate partners cooperate to achieve mutual profit. In human subjects coming from countries with an uneven wealth distribution, this mutual profit may be reduced, especially for the lower socioeconomic classes. We implemented an Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma Game experiment in one such country with starkly high inequality, China. We split relatively richer and poorer subjects into separate classes and gave only one the authority to punish the other. When rich subjects could unidirectionally punish poor subjects (as in a segregated society), rich subjects decreased their cooperation effort while punishing poor subjects. When rich and poor subjects, instead, could punish each other in random combinations (as in an integrated society) they decreased defections so they could punish more. In the segregated society model, the punishing classes earned twice as much as the non-punishers. Conversely, in the integrated society model, weak differences in earnings were found, leading to a decrease in inequality. These results were confirmed by an agent-based simulation mirroring the human experiments and repeated during a very large number of rounds. From our research, we conclude that, especially in developing economies, if the states enacted that the dominant and subordinate individuals relinquished their almost segregated state, this would lead to a redistribution of wealth and power.