Climate change can make most human diseases worse

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A new study says that over 200 human diseases could get worse because of climate change.

Climate change has been known to affect disease. Floods from more frequent storms can carrybacteria in their surge of water, while warmer temperatures can make regions friendlier to disease-carrying mosquitoes.

The majority of research focused on a few threats at a time. A new study published in Nature Climate Change has created a map of all of the ways in which the climate can interact with infectious diseases.

The authors looked at thousands of scientific articles about those diseases. heatwaves, rising sea levels, and wildfires are some of the causes of 218 diseases.

Climate change can make diseases worse. Changes cause animals to move closer to people. Bats and rodents are more likely to transmit diseases to people when their habitats are disrupted by fires or other disasters. Climate change has been shown to make viruses jump from animals to humans. The phenomenon is believed to have contributed to the 2016 outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease.

Climate driven events cause people to move closer to animals. Humans were linked to diseases after storms. Climate hazard gives pathogens a boost, like how disease-carrying mosquito populations grow in warmer temperatures Climate change makes people less able to deal with diseases. The human immune system can be weakened by big swings in temperature.

If you are interested in taking a closer look at all the diseases that are affected, the study authors built an interactive chart that connects every disease to the climate hazard that makes it worse. You can see how sand flies can cause health problems when there is a shortage of water. Happy or not?