Global Warming Means More Disease
Climate change will affect many dozens of aspects on life here on Earth, and actually, a few (a slim minority) of those effects will be positive, e.g., longer growing seasons in places like Canada and Russia.
My youngest nephew Garrett recently received his master’s degree in public health, and knows far more about this than I ever will, but here’s a list of diseases that will likely become worse during prolonged and unseasonably warm periods:
- Eastern equine encephalitis – a rare brain disease, transmitted by mosquitoes.
- Dengue Fever – severe joint pain and hemorrhaging, transmitted by mosquitoes.
- West Nile Virus – brain inflammation, transmitted by ticks and mosquitoes.
- Kidney Stones – the US southeast is considered the “kidney stone risk belt.”
- Vibrio vulnificus – “flesh-eating” bacteria, lives in warm brackish water.
- Naegleria fowleriis – “brain-eating amoeba” thrives in warm soil.
- Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever – expanding into higher altitudes.
