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A12 science
Friday 29 april 2022

Increased infectious disease risk likely

from climate change

and infectious disease
agreed that a warming
planet will likely lead to in-
creased risk for the emer-
gence of new viruses.
Daniel R. Brooks, a biolo-
gist at University of Ne-
braska State Museum and
co-author of the book "The
Stockholm Paradigm: Cli-
mate Change and Emerg-
ing Disease," said the study
acknowledges the threat
posed by climate change
in terms of increasing risk of
infectious diseases.
This electron microscope image made available by the U.S. Na- "This particular contribution
tional Institutes of Health shows a human T cell under attack by is an extremely conserva-
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. tive estimate for potential"
Associated Press emerging infectious dis-
ease spread caused by cli-
BY DREW COSTLEY study. mate change, said Brooks.
AP Science Writer Researchers said not all vi- Aaron Bernstein, a pedia-
Climate change will result ruses will spread to humans trician and interim director
in thousands of new viruses or become pandemics the of The Center for Climate,
spread among animal spe- scale of the coronavirus but Health, and the Global
cies by 2070 — and that's the number of cross-spe- Environment at Harvard
likely to increase the risk of cies viruses increases the T.H. Chan School of Public
emerging infectious diseas- risk of spread to humans. Health, said the study con-
es jumping from animals to The study highlights two firms long-held suspicions
humans, according to a global crises — climate about the impact of warm-
new study. change and infectious ing on infectious disease
This is especially true for Af- disease spread — as the emergence.
rica and Asia, continents world grapples with what "Of particular note is that
that have been hotspots to do about both. the study indicates that
for deadly disease spread Previous research has these encounters may al-
from humans to animals looked at how defor- ready be happening with
or vice versa over the last estation and extinction greater frequency and in
several decades, includ- and wildlife trade lead to places near where many
ing the flu, HIV, Ebola and animal-human disease people live," Bernstein said.
coronavirus. spread, but there's less re- Study co-author Gregory
Researchers, who pub- search about how climate Albery, a disease ecologist
lished their findings Thurs- change could influence at Georgetown University,
day in the journal Nature, this type of disease trans- said that because climate-
used a model to examine mission, the researchers driven infectious disease
how over 3,000 mammal said at a media briefing emergence is likely already
species might migrate and Wednesday. happening, the world
and share viruses over the "We don't talk about cli- should be doing more to
next 50 years if the world mate a lot in the context of learn about and prepare
warms by 2 degrees Celsius zoonoses" — diseases that for it.
(3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), can spread from animals "It is not preventable, even
which recent research to people, said study co- in the best case climate
shows is possible. author Colin Carlson, an as- change scenarios," Albery
They found that cross- sistant professor of biology said. Carlson, who was also
species virus spread will at Georgetown University. an author on the latest re-
happen over 4,000 times "Our study ... brings togeth- port from the Intergovern-
among mammals alone. er the two most pressing mental Panel on Climate
Birds and marine animals global crises we have." Change, said we must
weren't included in the Experts on climate change cut greenhouse gas and
phase out fossil fuels to re-
duce the risk of infectious
disease spread.
Jaron Browne, organizing
director of the climate jus-
tice group Grassroots Glob-
al Justice Alliance, said the
study highlights climate
injustices experienced by
people living in African and
Asian nations.q