Climate change is making rare diseases in the US more common, Kansas City doctors say - KCUR
Climate change is making rare diseases in the US more common, Kansas City doctors say | KCUR - Kansas City news and NPR
Climate change is making rare diseases in the US more common, Kansas City doctors say
July 2023 marked the hottest month on record. As climate conditions worsen and extreme weather events spread across the globe, so do uncommon diseases. Health experts warn of the health consequences of not addressing climate change.
Locally transmitted cases of malaria, a disease common to warmer regions of the world outside of the U.S., have been detected in Florida and Texas. While the risk of contracting the disease remains extremely low for most Americans, it should serve as a warning of the effects of climate change, according to local heath experts.
"The constant increases in temperature, and then the lack of the hard-freezing things over the winter — many of these insects and vectors then thrive and grow at faster rates," said Dr. Rex Archer, director of population and public health at Kansas City University.
Cases of Hansen's Disease, more commonly known as leprosy, have also increased in Florida.
The earth's rising temperature not only creates a more sustainable breeding ground for vector-borne illnesses like malaria and Lyme disease, but it also contributes to a rise in heatstroke, kidney disease and cardiovascular illness, respiratory illnesses including asthma and allergies.
Dr. Rex Archer, director of population and public health, Kansas City University
Dr. Gautam Desai, chair of primary care and director of global health, Kansas City University
Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.