Is Climate Change Directly Impacting Human Health?

Disease outbreaks have destroyed civilizations since the beginning of time. In the past, diseases have spread, but not as rapidly as they are travelling today. As climate change worsens, new deadly viruses will have a better opportunity to form, grow, and infect populations.

One of the main issues revolving around changing weather patterns is how it is affecting the expansion of diseases. Researchers are linking the outbreak of global illnesses to the rise in extreme weather events (Otten et al. 2022). Conditions including irregular periods of precipitation and heat waves provide a better environment for viruses to design and transmit.

There is an abundance of research being done to investigate the connection between extreme weather and the spread of diseases. What drives an abundance of these inquiries are the quantities of lives lost each year as a result of climate catastrophes. It is estimated that there are annually 150,000 global deaths due to diseases influenced by irregular weather conditions (Ma et al. 2022). These patterns are being observed more frequently as the number of vector-borne diseases (VBD) continue to rise. The figure down below highlights important information regarding diseases impacted by climate change. If suitable conditions for VBDs are met, which are caused by global warming, it creates a more ideal environment for the diseases to spread. When climate is regulated, the amount of VBDs are kept to a minimum.

The spread of Lyme disease is a growing concern for communities in Manitoba, Canada. Increasing temperatures due to climate change create a more ideal habitat for the blacklegged tick population to breed and thrive (Cameron et al. 2021). This has caused a surge in the number of Lyme disease cases in the region, and this number is only expected to grow. The figure below showcases the amount of ticks that will invade Manitoba in the near future if global warming continues.

Pakistan has also been heavily impacted by the effects of global warming. An increase in heavy rainfall resulting in flash floods is taking a toll on their population’s health and environment. In 2022, the country experienced several monsoons and torrents which created a gateway for waterborne diseases to travel (Iqbal et al. 2022). A surge in cases of malaria and diarrhea were seen in patients linked to these extreme weather events. If climate change continues, more water transmissible diseases are likely to spread and harm several communities.

To stop the spread of viruses due to global warming, countries must unite and make change. Switching to renewable energy sources, eliminating pollution, and making chemical processes more efficient are all steps in the right direction of action (Shu 2019). If nothing is done soon to mitigate the effects of climate change, extreme weather will continue to worsen along with the growth of new, deadly diseases.

References

Ainsley, Otten, Aamir Fazil, Anna Chemeris, Patrick Breadner, and Victoria Ng. 2020. “Prioritization of Vector-Borne Diseases in Canada Under Current Climate and Projected Climate Change.” Microbial Risk Analysis 14 (April): 100089. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mran.2019.100089.

Cameron, Laura, Rhéa Rocque, Kailey Penner, and Ian Mauro. 2021. “Evidence-Based Communication on Climate Change and Health: Testing Videos, Text, and Maps on Climate Change and Lyme Disease in Manitoba, Canada.” PLOS ONE 16 (6): e0252952. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252952.

Iqbal, Maham, Azkah Rabbani, Fatima Haq, and Sunaina Bhimani. 2022. “The Floods of 2022: Economic and Health Crisis Hits Pakistan.” Annals of Medicine and Surgery 84 (November): 104800. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104800.

Ma, Jian, Yongman Guo, Jing Gao, et al. 2022. “Climate Change Drives the Transmission and Spread of Vector-Borne Diseases: An Ecological Perspective.” Biology 11 (11): 1628. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11111628.

Shu, Frank H. 2019. “Stopping and Reversing Climate Change.” Resonance 24 (1): 51–72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-019-0758-8.