“Deadly Dozen” Diseases Could Stem From Global Warming

 

Christine Dell’Amore | National Geographic News

A spike in deadly infectious diseases in wildlife and people may be the “most immediate consequence” of global warming, according to a new report released today.

Dubbed the “deadly dozen,” sicknesses such as Lyme disease, yellow fever, plague, and avian influenza, or bird flu, may skyrocket as global shifts in temperature and precipitation transform ecosystems.   Babesia, cholera, ebola, intestinal and external parasites, red tides, Rift Valley fever, sleeping sickness and tuberculosis round out the list. (Read descriptions.)

An “early warning system” based on an international wildlife-monitoring network may be the only effective defense, said William Karesh, a report co-author and vice president of Global Health Programs at the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society.

Observing wildlife could yield crucial signals of potential outbreaks.

“Without the presence of wildlife, we would be clueless about what’s going on in the environment,” Karesh told a briefing at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Barcelona.

“Why wait until people are sick and dying?”

Out of Sync

Of 14,000 known infectious organisms, 600 are shared between animals and humans.

The deadly dozen were chosen by the conservation society’s health experts as some of the most ominous health threats.

“The reason we want to draw attention to [microbes] is they’re difficult to see, they have devastating effects, and we also don’t think about them until it’s too late,” Karesh said.

Since microbes and wildlife have evolved together over time, animal species have developed adaptations to cope with the organisms. So disease spikes usually point to something “out of sync with nature,” Karesh said.

Read on here.

“Deadly Dozen” Diseases Could Stem From Global Warming

 

Christine Dell’Amore | National Geographic News

A spike in deadly infectious diseases in wildlife and people may be the “most immediate consequence” of global warming, according to a new report released today.

Dubbed the “deadly dozen,” sicknesses such as Lyme disease, yellow fever, plague, and avian influenza, or bird flu, may skyrocket as global shifts in temperature and precipitation transform ecosystems.   Babesia, cholera, ebola, intestinal and external parasites, red tides, Rift Valley fever, sleeping sickness and tuberculosis round out the list. (Read descriptions.)

An “early warning system” based on an international wildlife-monitoring network may be the only effective defense, said William Karesh, a report co-author and vice president of Global Health Programs at the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society.

Observing wildlife could yield crucial signals of potential outbreaks.

“Without the presence of wildlife, we would be clueless about what’s going on in the environment,” Karesh told a briefing at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Barcelona.

“Why wait until people are sick and dying?”

Out of Sync

Of 14,000 known infectious organisms, 600 are shared between animals and humans.

The deadly dozen were chosen by the conservation society’s health experts as some of the most ominous health threats.

“The reason we want to draw attention to [microbes] is they’re difficult to see, they have devastating effects, and we also don’t think about them until it’s too late,” Karesh said.

Since microbes and wildlife have evolved together over time, animal species have developed adaptations to cope with the organisms. So disease spikes usually point to something “out of sync with nature,” Karesh said.

Read on here.

Corporations Have Big Plans to Profit from Global Warming

By Jill Richardson | AlterNet.

With the world’s leading scientists in agreement on the science behind global warming, how are multinational corporations preparing for climate change? Some, like Exxon Mobile, continue to squeeze the last drops of profit out of any oil field they get their hands on while paying scientists to deny climate change. Some see profitability in adapting to a more energy-efficient world. And then there’s the third group: the greenwashers — those hoping to come off as enviro-friendly while they make a buck (or a few million) off our global crisis.

Greenwashing is nothing new, but there’s a huge difference between covering up environmentally damaging activities with an eco-friendly gesture or two and touting your pollution-based business as the solution to the climate crisis.

An example of the former would be Wal-Mart patting itself on the back for selling millions of energy-efficient lightbulbs while simultaneously selling cheap junk from China by the truckload. Nobody will be fooled by a few compact fluorescents into believing that Wal-Mart is up there with the Sierra Club in defending our planet.

But how about companies like Bayer, which is currently working to produce drought-resistant plants to help farmers face a post-global warming reality? And then there’s corn ethanol, a fuel that requires so much oil to produce that it hardly represents a move away from petroleum products at all, and yet it is the darling of politicians on both sides of the aisle. To many, these products are undetectable as greenwashing. And that’s not by accident.

During a conversation on climate change at this month’s Slow Food Nation festival, author and activist Anna Lappé said, “What scares me about this historic moment is that as we collectively raise the consciousness about the connection between the food system and climate change — that there is one, that we need to do something about it — at the very same time what we’re seeing is some of the biggest agribusiness companies and also the biggest biotech companies taking advantage of that consciousness-raising to present themselves as the solution, and that I think is very dangerous.”

Read on here.

U.K.: Climate change will allow tropical disease to spread to Europe

By Paul Eccleston | Telegraph.co.uk

Climate change will allow wildlife diseases to spread more easily, a new report warns.

Climate change could lead to a surge in Legionnaires’ disease

Britain is hotspot of new germs says new study

Scientists devise list of potential threats to UK

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) lists the “deadly dozen” diseases which could threaten human health and global economies.

The study shows the impact climate change could have on the health of wild animals and how it can cascade onto human populations.

Avian flu, TB and Ebola are just some of the broad range of infectious diseases that threaten both humans and animals.

Pathogens that originate in or move through wildlife populations can also inflict massive economic damage. Since the mid 1990s avian inluenza is estimated to have caused $100bn in losses to the global economy.

The report, The Deadly Dozen: Wildlife Diseases in the Age of Climate Change, says better monitoring of wildlife is needed to detect how diseases are moving so health professionals can restrict their impact.

Dr Steven E Sanderson, president and CEO of the WCS, said: “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.

“The health of wild animals is tightly linked to the ecosystems in which they live and influenced by the environment surrounding them, and even minor disturbances can have far reaching consequences on what diseases they might encounter and transmit as climate changes.

Read on here.

New Information Shows How Climate Change Will Affect Water

 

Environment News Service.

More intense storms will threaten water infrastructure and increase polluted stormwater runoff as climate change impacts water resources across the United States, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns in a proposed climate and water strategy issued Thursday.

Shorelines will move as a result of sea level rise, and changes in ocean chemistry will alter aquatic habitat and fisheries, the agency said.

Warming water temperatures are likely change contaminant concentrations in water and alter the uses of aquatic systems, the EPA strategy document projects.

The document adds that new patterns of rainfall and snowfall are expected to alter water supply for drinking and other uses and lead to changes in pollution levels in aquatic systems.

Heavier precipitation in tropical and inland storms will increase the risks of flooding, expand floodplains, increase the variability of streamflows (i.e., higher high flows and lower low flows), increase the velocity of water during high flow periods and increase erosion,” according to the strategy document.

“These changes will have adverse effects on water quality and aquatic system health. For example, increases in intense rainfall result in more nutrients, pathogens, and toxins being washed into waterbodies,” the document states.

As a result, the strategy advises, water managers will need to expand efforts to plan for and respond to extreme weather events resulting from climate change, including storms, an excess of water, and a lack of water.

“Water is key to clean energy and climate change,” said Benjamin Grumbles, EPA’s assistant administrator for water. “Our water and climate strategy charts a course for timely and practical action, connecting the dots, drops, and watts for coordinated, sustainable results.”

Read on here.