The impact of climate change on global temperatures is wreaking havoc on our environment. Last week's record of more than two degrees Celsius above “normal” for the first time in recorded history is a clear sign that the problem is not going to improve itself. Public health officials concerned with the recent Zika outbreak also understand that Zika is not the only mosquito-born virus that will worsen with warming temperatures. As reuters reports below, "A 2 to 3 degree Celsius rise in temperature can increase the number of people at risk of malaria by 3 to 5 percent, or more than 100 million, according to the World Health Organization." Climate for Health mobilizes health leaders to act as agents of social change and climate solutions. Are you concerned enough to join us?
Insight - Mosquitoes' Rapid Spread Poses Threat Beyond Zika
By Ben Hirschler I March 14, 2016
As the world focuses on Zika's rapid advance in the Americas, experts warn the virus that originated in Africa is just one of a growing number of continent-jumping diseases carried by mosquitoes threatening swathes of humanity.
The battle against the insects on the streets of Brazil is the latest in an ancient war between humankind and the Culicidae, or mosquito, family which the pests frequently win.
Today, mosquito invaders are turning up with increasing regularity from Washington DC to Strasbourg, challenging the notion that the diseases they carry will remain confined to the tropics, scientists documenting the cases told Reuters.
Ironically, humans have rolled out the red carpet for the invaders by transporting them around the world and providing a trash-strewn urban landscape that suits them to perfection.
The Aedes aegypti species blamed for transmitting Zika breeds in car tyres, tin cans, dog bowls and cemetery flower vases. And its females are great at spreading disease as they take multiple bites to satisfy their hunger for the protein in human blood they need to develop their eggs.
