Why a Warmer Ocean is Triggering Peru's Worst Dengue Outbreak

Hi, it’s Marcelo in Lima, where we are going through the worst dengue outbreak on record. The reason behind it has implications for the rest of the world as climate change warms up the globe. But first ...

Peru’s Pacific Ocean is 7 degrees Fahrenheit (and 4 degrees Celsius) warmer right now than usual. That leads to more evaporation, triggering rains and flooding that has killed dozens this year in Peru’s desert coast.

But that’s not all. The flooding also creates good conditions for dengue-carrying mosquitoes to reproduce. This happens for two main reasons: There’s naturally pooled water around and flooding collapses water and sewage systems. That forces people to store water in buckets, offering even more breeding spaces for mosquitoes.

“It’s a perfect storm,” says Antonio Quispe, a Peruvian epidemiologist and former health ministry official.

While this particular weather pattern — known as El Niño — is temporary, the rising ocean temperatures offer a glimpse of just one of the effects of climate change.