Climate Change and the Rise of Infectious Diseases

I remember sitting in my health class when my teacher mentioned that climate change can affect the spread of infectious diseases. This surprised me because I knew global warming could cause health issues like heatstroke, but I didn’t know about infectious diseases. As I dug deeper, I learned that rising temperatures can change the environments where disease-carrying insects live, impact how germs spread, and weaken people’s immunity.

Climate change is creating more favorable conditions for infectious diseases to spread faster and wider. Rising temperatures expand the habitats of insects like mosquitoes and ticks, which spread diseases like West Nile virus, Lyme disease, and malaria. Warmer conditions help these insects to reproduce more quickly, which further increases disease transmission. Also, flooding is becoming more frequent due to climate change, and this can contaminate water and spread diseases like E. coli and cholera.

Infectious diseases have serious impacts on public health. For example, Washington state has seen cases of West Nile and anaplasmosis, which are carried by mosquitoes and ticks. As the earth becomes warmer, diseases that are usually in tropical areas are appearing in new places. This is dangerous because people and health systems might not be prepared so it could be harder to treat the diseases. 

Climate change can also weaken our ability to fight off illnesses. Climate change worsens extreme heat and unhealthy air quality, which can make people more susceptible to diseases, especially seniors, children, and people with chronic conditions.

The warming planet can make infectious diseases spread faster, reach new regions, and harm more people. By supporting clean energy, reducing pollution, and raising awareness, we can protect our earth as well as our health.

Sources

https://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/topics-programs/climate-infectious-disease.html#:~:text=What%20to%20know,areas%20and%20infect%20more%20people.

https://wellcome.org/news/what-link-between-climate-change-and-infectious-disease

https://www.nationalacademies.org/based-on-science/does-climate-change-increase-the-spread-of-infectious-diseases#:~:text=Climate%20change%20is%20one%20of%20many%20factors,changes%20in%20land%20use%20and%20land%20cover.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6974868/#:~:text=The%20infectious%20diseases%20transmitted%20through%20insects%20like,and%20physicochemical%20circumstances%20(salinity%2C%20pH%2C%20humidity%20etc.)

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3068824/#:~:text=Increased%20susceptibility%20to%20infection%20caused%20the%20highest,new%20diseases%20associated%20with%20the%20HIV/AIDS%20pandemic.

https://doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/climate-and-health/infectious-diseases#:~:text=Anaplasmosis,West%20Nile%20virus%20(WNV).