People around the world are living longer, healthier lives than they were just half a century ago. Climate change threatens to undo that progress.
NEW YORK - People around the world are living longer, healthier lives than they were just half a century ago.Across the planet, animals - and the diseases they carry - are shifting to accommodate a globe on the fritz. And they're not alone: Ticks, mosquitos, bacteria, algae, even fungi are on the move, shifting or expanding their historical ranges to adapt to climatic conditions that are evolving at an unprecedented pace.
All of these factors create conditions ripe for human illness. Diseases old and new are becoming more prevalent and even cropping up in places they've never been found before. Researchers have begun piecing together a patchwork of evidence that illuminates the formidable threat climate-driven diseases currently pose to human health - and the scope of the dangers to come.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is part of a collaboration between The Associated Press and Grist exploring the intersection of climate change and infectious diseases.To escape rising temperatures in their native ranges, animals are beginning to move to higher, cooler elevations, bringing diseases with them. That poses a threat to people living in those areas, and it also leads to dangerous intermingling between animal newcomers and existing species.
Erratic weather patterns, such as periods of extreme drought and flooding, create conditions for diseases to spread. Cholera, a water-borne bacteria, thrives during the monsoon season in South Asian countries when flooding contaminates drinking water, especially in places that lack quality sanitation infrastructure. Valley fever, a fungal-borne pathogen that grows in the soil in the Western U.S., flourishes during periods of rain.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
5 people killed and 8 injured after small plane crashes into hangar in PolandFive people were killed and eight others were injured Monday when a Cessna 208 plane crashed into a hangar at a sky diving centre.
Read more »
5 people killed and 8 injured after small plane crashes into hangar in PolandFive people were killed and eight others were injured Monday when a Cessna 208 plane crashed into a hangar at a sky diving centre.
Read more »
U.S., China meet on climate as world temperatures near record highs - National | Globalnews.caThe heat dome across the western United States also helped to generate heavy rains in the northeast, claiming at least five lives. The heat warnings spread as far as Florida.
Read more »
Fade into the night: Fireflies facing threats from climate change and light pollutionAaron Fairweather remembers seeing fireflies as a child for the first time, a swarm of twinkles flashing across the surface of a lake near Saint John, N.B.,…
Read more »
What is the Climate Action Incentive payment, and how do you get it?A single person in Ontario can get up to $122 each quarter.
Read more »
We need to live up to our climate commitments, nowShawn McCarthy: Now is not the time to retreat. Or to think we can fully 'adapt' to the extreme ravages of climate change. Or to think that we don't need to act urgently because we're a small slice of the problem. This is it. cdnpoli (subs)
Read more »