How Climate Change is Increasing the Spread of Infectious Diseases

In this article, we will explore how climate change is increasing the spread of infectious diseases. There are many ways that this can happen.

One thing that can cause infectious diseases to spread is warming temperatures. When temperatures are warmer, more insects are out. Some insects like ticks and mosquitoes can carry some sort of infection like Lyme disease or malaria.

Another thing is shifting ecosystems. Shifting ecosystems cause animals stress in many ways, such as migration. Stress can potentially weaken the immune system, which makes it easier to transmit a virus. As a matter of fact, it is possible that climate change caused bats to have to migrate, which caused stress, which made them more susceptible to spreading SARS-CoV-2, according to the National Center of Biotechnology Information. See here if you want more information.

Another thing is waterborne diseases. Things like floods, tropical storms, and sea level rise can potentially contaminate drinking water with viruses and bacteria, which can cause gastrointestinal illnesses like cholera and giardia.

As you can see, climate change is increasing the spread of infectious diseases. This is going to get progressively worse as time goes by due to the climate crisis not being dealt with.