Temperature Records and New Viruses
What is the relation between climate and new viruses? How is the temperature records impact on diseases?
I am still shocked how all the living creatures are connected to and affect each other. The world is facing extreme weather events such as heat waves and droughts, cold snaps and winter storms, tornadoes, tropical and subtropical cyclones, windstorms and wildfires. As a result of their intensity and frequency they lead the most severe effects. Extended periods of hot and dry weather can have serious public health, agricultural,environmental and economic impacts. We will have a deeper look into the public health part.
Animals that lose their homes due to global warming migrate to new places, and while doing so, they spread their own diseases. When these viruses, which are not a problem for them, interact with other living things, they can cause serious diseases in these creatures because their bodies are not ready for these viruses. As these creatures move, diseases are carried with them.
Climate is related to diseases. But how?
Before the 19th century people used to believe pollution caused them to be sick. But after the germ theory of disease which suggests that the cause of many diseases is microorganisms also known as arthropods, it has been known that viruses cause diseases not the pollution. The microorganisms living on some species can be fatal to other species. With the rise of average global temperature, scientists believe that vector borne diseases are spreading because animals and most of the people are moving to cooler areas. There are almost 10.000 viruses in animals that are abandoning their habitats for other places after unprecedented globe temperatures. Which will cause the spread of the new virus borne diseases.
Since pre-industrial times the global temperature has risen 1°C and if this level is above 2°C both hot and wet weather events persist.
In 2010, Russia had the worst on the global record, temperatures were 9 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the 20th century average.
In 2019, the UK temperature was 38.7 °C. Also recently the UK Meteorological Office warned the citizens about extreme heat as temperatures were expected to exceed 40°C, the hottest day on record.
The highest officially recorded temperature is 56.7 in Death Valley, California 1913.
According to NASA’s temperature record Earth in 2021 was about 1.1 °C warmer than the late 19th century average. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/2021-tied-for-6th-warmest-year-in-continued-trend-nasa-analysis-shows
Results of a study shows that 37% of warm season health related deaths across 43 countries between 1991 and 2018 can be attributed to anthropogenic climate change and that increased mortality is evident on every continent.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01058-x
Also according to WHO, it is known that the Covid 19 virus can spread in hot and humid climates.
As a result, since climate change is damaging nature, habitats are being degraded and stand out as potential virus carrier areas. The earth and the creatures living on it are even more intertwined than expected. For this reason, a potential natural event or increasing temperatures do not only affect the end of the world as temperature. At the same time, it creates diseases and puts the living species at risk.