Global Warming is causing the spread of tropical diseases

by Jenn Jones

San Francisco-based Ecobridge documents that Climate Change is already threatening the planet with a spread of infectious diseases, which will move farther northward and to higher elevations. The World Health Organization (WHO) projects tens of millions more cases of malaria and other infectious diseases. "The spread of infectious diseases will be the most important public health problem related to climate change," states Jonathan Patz, a John Hopkins microbiologist who is working on the issue at the U.S Environmental Protection Agency.

Dr. Paul Epstein of the Harvard Medical School says, "If tropical weather is expanding, it means that tropical diseases will expand. We're seeing malaria in Houston, Texas." While insects are proliferating, carrying these diseases, three-fourths of all birds species are on the decline.

We are losing our first line of defence against the threat of disease-carrying insects. In addition, 26 percent of bat species are threatened with extinction.

Bat colonies in Texas can eat 250 tons of insects each night. The loss of many species of birds and bats, while insects proliferate, could lead to an escalation of the use of pesticides, threatening yet more damage to the world's animal species, including ourselves.

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