Infectious diseases and climate change intersect with no simple answers

Climate change is already affecting the spread of infectious diseases–and human health and biodiversity worldwide–according to disease ecologists reporting research results in the journal Science. Modeling disease outcomes from host and parasite responses to climate variables, they say, could help public health officials and environmental managers address the challenges posed by the changing landscape of infectious disease. “Earth’s changing climate and the global spread of infectious diseases are threatening human health, agriculture and wildlife,” said Sam Scheiner, National Science Foundation (NSF) program director for the joint NSF-National Institutes of Health Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases Program, which funded the research. “Solving these problems requires a comprehensive approach that unites scientists from biology, the geosciences and the social sciences.” According to lead author Sonia Altizer of the University of Georgia, the issue of climate change and disease has provoked intense debate over the last decade, particularly in the case of diseases...