Fossil Fuels and Health: Infectious Disease

FOSSIL FUELS AND HEALTH: INFECTIOUS DISEASE Driven by the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil , our world is getting warmer and warmer – and real people’s lives are in danger. But not just from the searing heat, violent storms, and rising seas most think of first when the conversation turns to our changing climate. The c limate c risis is also making us sick – and it’s only just getting started . I nfectious diseases are becoming more prolific in our warming world. And the insidious spread of some illnesses and the uptick in dangerous diagnoses has much to do with climate c hange . “Humans have known that climatic conditions affect epidemic diseases from long before the role of infectious agents was [even] discovered,” the World Health Organization (WHO) writes . “ Vectors, pathogens , and hosts each survive and reproduce within a range of optimal climatic conditions: temperature and precipitation are the most important, while sea level elevation, wind, and daylight duration are also important.” But those conditions are changing, introducing new illness to places they never previously existed and creating the conditions for harmful pathogens to flourish . CLIMATE CHANGE-DRIVEN INFECTIOUS DISEASE Broadly, there are two major groups into which climate change - related infectious diseases can be categorized: vector - borne and water - related . WATER-RELATED ILLNESSES are caused by waterborne pathogens like bacteria, viruses, and protozoa; toxins produced by certain harmful algae; and chemicals introduced into the environment by humans (think agricultural runoff). We are exposed to them by ingesti ng or other direct contact with contaminated water , or by eating affected fish and shellfish. They includ e: Cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery, and hepatitis A , as well as health problems related to exposure to toxin - producing algae.