If global warming continues unabated, weather patterns will become more erratic, bringing stronger storms and floods, creating ideal breeding grounds for the Rift Valley fever virus.
Lyme Disease
Warmer weather is contributing to a rise in Lyme disease in two ways: higher temperatures allow both ticks to thrive and people to stay outdoors more. A study conducted by the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School found that rising temperatures during winters in North America are causing a growth in tick populations, which has led to more Lyme disease cases. Like mosquitoes, ticks are attracted to warmer conditions, so as climate change gradually increases the temperature in northern geographic areas, ticks will find new homes (and new targets).
These diseases aren’t just due to climate change—globalization, loss of predators, ecological factors, and lack of prevention play a role. But their increasing incidence and range, due in large part to warmer weather and extreme rainfall, make them seem like the canaries in our global coalmine.
