Climate change is
predicted to have profound implications on human health. Environmental change
will increase the range and populations affected by the spread of vector-borne
diseases. As global temperatures are expected to continue rising due to changing
concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, geographic areas are
expected to experience changes in climate; more rainfall or drought, higher or
cooler temperatures. In turn, these changes will directly influence where
vector-borne diseases are spread and their transmissibility.
Vector-borne
diseases are of particular concern as the insect vectors tend to thrive at
higher temperatures and depend on water sources to breed. The consequences and
burden of disease on human populations depend on many factors and thus predicating
models are forced to make many assumptions. For example, the mosquito vector
which transmits malaria needs high temperatures (greater than 16 degrees C) and
an abundance of water. Thus, epidemics of malaria increase in the tropics
during the rainy seasons. However, the mosquito vector responsible for West
Nile produces epidemics during times of drought due to its method of
transmission.
The general trends
suggest that climate change will increase the incidence of vector-borne diseases
globally as the range of the vectors increase.
The distribution of mortality due to major vector-borne diseases in different (World Health Organization) WHO regions.
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Briyonne,
ReplyDeleteI've never actually heard of vector-borne diseases, so I was very interested reading your pages! You have a ton of great information that explains the disease very well. Your graphics were very informative and I like how you put some of your information in bullets - made it easier to read. Maybe you can explain more about the spread of the disease in the central areas of the three countries you mentioned. Also, there might be some formatting issues on some of your pages (not sure if it's just my computer though...) Otherwise, your blog looks almost finished! Good job.
Janice
Briyonne,
ReplyDeleteThe facts are beautifully laid out. You can tell the time you put into your research and I really appreciate it! The topic is so well explained that I don't have much to say. I think that you should add a bit about what we can do as human beings to help mitigate this issue. Helping give ideas to how to solve climate change issues is what I believe these websites should all be focusing on. Adding a flashy photograph to your front page will help grab readers attentions.
Taylor