How Climate Change Is Intensifying Dangerous Diseases

As greenhouse gas emissions collect in the atmosphere and the Earth becomes a hotter place to live, it’s expected to become more disease-stricken, too. Biting insects and waterborne bugs that spread dreaded illnesses such as malaria and cholera thrive in the warm, damp conditions often created by climate change. Episodes of extreme weather are likely to make things worse.

There’s already some evidence of climate change impacting disease. Candida auris, a new type of yeast first seen in 2009, has spread globally in association with increasing temperatures, prompting some researchers to speculate that it’s the first example of a new disease-causing fungus emerging from human-induced global warming. While C. auris isn’t a danger to healthy people, it can threaten those who are sick or have invasive medical devices and is often resistant to commonly used antifungal medications. Cases in the US rose to 2,377 in 2022 from 173 in 2017. Severe cases can be deadly. An analysis of 192 hospitalized patients over the same timespan found that about a third requiring hospitalization ended in death.