Climate Change and Pandemics

The global outbreak of COVID-19 has renewed the interests of scientists and researchers to look more deeply into the “spillover” of disease from animals to humans. \”Zoonosis\” is the term which precisely describes the passing of an infection in such a manner. What triggered the outbreak is still unknown, but scientists believe that this infection was passed from bats to humans through an intermediary animal, a pangolin, possibly. There are a number of diseases that have spilled over from animals to humans including Ebola in Africa, Marburg in Europe, Hendra virus in Australia and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), coronavirus and Nipah virus in East Asia. Scientists and researchers have been warning for a very long time that ongoing disturbance of species through human activities and climate change can raise the risk of pandemics. Through this article, I want to make my readers aware of the fact that \”Yes\” climate change and biodiversity loss can, in future, pose a threat of pandemic so fatal as to wipe half of Earth\’s population.

Climate change and biodiversity loss are some major factors that have left majority of animals no choice but to look for an environment that’s more suitable for their needs. Data from various studies show that more than 20,000 species are already on the move because of changing climatic conditions. These species are, in general, moving towards Earth’s poles at phenomenal speeds: land animals at the speed of 10 miles (16 km) per decade whereas marine species at 45 miles (72 km) per decade. Change in climatic conditions leads to change in rainfall levels, and this in turn is forcing these species to make such a move. This phenomenon is making animal-human interaction more probable and, as a result, facilitating zoonotic diseases. The link between climate change and emergence of infectious diseases appears to be crystal clear, prima facie, but a great deal of research still needs to be done in order to establish stronger grounds for such plausibility. A study conducted on Hendra Virus, a disease that can pass from flying foxes to humans through horses and that has a fatality rate of 50-75%, suggests that there could be a possible link between climate change and disease spillover. It emphasizes that climate change could expand the geographical range of flying foxes southwards. This expansion would again make animal-human interaction more probable.

People around the globe are concerned more about vector-borne diseases, diseases that are spread by insects, such as dengue, malaria. Numerous studies have been conducted to measure the impact of such diseases, and several forecasts have been done which show that almost an additional 1 billion people will be hit by vector borne diseases by 2080. Very few studies of such a kind have been conducted on zoonotic diseases, and this has made the scientists to worry even more. There is one thing which is clear, zoonotic diseases have the potential to cause pandemics in the future, and this very potential correlates with the extent of animal-human interactions. The frequency and fatality of such pandemics are only going to increase in the future, if we do not keep a check on our actions. The choices we make today are somehow going to determine whether the future generations will suffer or thrive, so ultimately we, being the key players in this game of butterfly effect, will have to choose wisely.