The warming of the planet is creating new environments that are conducive to the spread of insects and other vectors that carry infectious diseases. The rising temperatures are allowing mosquitoes to live longer, which gives them more time to spread diseases, like malaria, dengue fever, and Zika. Here’s more about what we know on how climate change is contributing to the spread of disease and potential ways to mitigate its impact.
Climate change is no longer a distant threat, and its effects can be seen all around us from rising temperatures to droughts to extreme weather events, like hurricanes. The impacts of climate change are felt not only on our environment but also on our health. One of the most alarming effects of climate change is its impact on the spread of infectious diseases.
The warming of the planet is creating new environments that are conducive to the spread of insects and other vectors that carry infectious diseases. For example, the rising temperatures are allowing mosquitoes to live longer, which gives them more time to spread diseases, like malaria, dengue fever, and Zika. These diseases are already taking a heavy toll on vulnerable populations, particularly in tropical regions, and the number of cases is expected to increase as the planet continues to warm.
Other ways that climate change is affecting infectious diseases include:
- Increased risk of disease spread: As the climate changes, the risk of health threats, such as mosquito and tick-borne diseases, contact with animals, fungi, and water increases. For example, warming temperatures in Alaska have led to increases in vole populations, which can spread diseases, like Alaskapox to humans.
- Changes in disease patterns: The climate acts as an important driver of spatial and seasonal patterns of infections, year-to-year variations in incidence, including epidemics, and longer-term shifts in populations at risk.
- Aggravation of existing diseases: Over half of known human pathogenic diseases can be aggravated by climate change. For instance, warming appears to have reduced the spread of viral diseases probably related to unsuitable conditions for the virus or because of a lack of susceptible hosts.
- Alteration of disease vectors: Climate change has altered the distribution of some infectious disease vectors, the seasonal distribution of some allergenic pollen, and the conditions for the growth of some fungi.
- Escalation of infectious diseases: Without swift climate action, we will see an escalation of infectious diseases. They will spread to new regions, and may decline in some endemic areas. They’ll surge in areas where they were previously under control. And diseases that have never previously infected humans, like Disease X, may 'spill over' from animals.
Overall, climate change is increasing the risk of infectious diseases and exacerbating existing health threats. In order to mitigate its impact, a multi-faceted approach is essential. This would involve strengthening health systems, reducing carbon footprint, increasing funds for climate change and health, framing the problem to increase awareness and action from stakeholders and policymakers, and predicting infectious disease outbreaks through climate data models.
Attendees at IDWeek 2023 can hear more about the relationship of climate change and infectious diseases by attending the session, “Infectious Diseases From Climate Change and Natural Disasters,” on Saturday, October 14 from 3:15pm – 4:30pm ET.
References
Climate and Infectious Diseases. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/what-we-do/climate-change-and-infectious-diseases/index.html. Accessed September 25, 2023.
Changes in Climate Influence Many Infectious Diseases. National Academies website. https://www.nationalacademies.org/based-on-science/does-climate-change-increase-the-spread-of-infectious-diseases. Accessed September 25, 2023.
Over Half of Known Human Pathogenic Diseases Can Be Aggravated by Climate Change. Nature website. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01426-1. Accessed September 25, 2023.
What is the Link Between Climate Change and Infectious Disease? Wellcome website. https://wellcome.org/news/what-link-between-climate-change-and-infectious-disease. Accessed September 25, 2023.
Perilous Pathogens: How Climate Change is Increasing the Threat of Diseases. Council on Foreign Relations. Perilous Pathogens: How Climate Change Is Increasing the Threat of Diseases | Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org). Accessed September 25, 2023.