The Wildlife Conservation Society said Tuesday that a “deadly dozen” diseases including avian flu and yellow fever are likely to spread more due to climate change. Closer monitoring of wildlife health is urged by the society in the hopes of getting an early warning of how pathogens might spread with global warming.
From MSNBC:
It listed the “deadly dozen” as avian flu, tick-borne babesia, cholera, ebola, parasites, plague, lyme disease, red tides of algal blooms, Rift Valley fever, sleeping sickness, tuberculosis and yellow fever.
“Even minor disturbances can have far reaching consequences on what diseases (wild animals) might encounter and transmit as climate changes,” said Steven Sanderson, head of the society.
“The term ‘climate change’ conjures images of melting ice caps and rising sea levels that threaten coastal cities and nations, but just as important is how increasing temperatures and fluctuating precipitation levels will change the distribution of dangerous pathogens,” he said.
William Karesh of the Wildlife Conservation Society pointed out that, for thousands of years, people have known of a relationship between health and climate. The diseases named are already killing millions of animals annually, and all pose a major threat to human health.
It just goes to show the far-reaching effects global warming is having on the earth, and will continue to have in the future. The time to act is yesterday.
Link [MSNBC]
Photo credit: National Geographic
