Over half of infectious diseases made worse by climate change

The link between global warming and the increased risk of diseases spread by organisms such as viruses and bacteria has been well known for a few years – cholera, malaria, Lyme disease, West Nile virus and the Zika virus have already been proven to spread more easily amid climate change. But a review published in Nature Climate Change is one of the most systematic studies yet. The results are worrying: of 375 infectious diseases studied, 218 (58%) have been aggravated by climate change. The findings come on the heels of an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment released in March, which found that the best-case scenario involved a 1.5°C (2.7°F) rise over the next 20 years, which will exacerbate the spread of infectious diseases. If sufficient action isn’t taken, the IPCC warned an increase to 2°C could accelerate the rise of infectious diseases even more. The excess of greenhouse gas emissions that are causing...