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12 Ways Climate Change Could Kill You

Warmer temperatures may cause spread of dangerous pathogens

By Rebecca Smith Hurd, Newser User

Posted Oct 14, 2008 10:34 AM CDT

(Newser) – A dozen deadly diseases may become even deadlier as a result of climate change, Scientific American reports. Cholera, tuberculosis, yellow fever, and other ailments are spreading to new areas as temperatures rise, a Wildlife Conservation Society study says. The society suggests monitoring wildlife to prevent a human outbreak of “black death” proportions. Beware the following:

Cholera: Water-borne bacterium thrives in warmer climes and can kill you in a week.

Ebola: Virus is lethal to humans and tends to follow unusual downpours or droughts.
Plague: Disease will relocate with rodents and fleas as they adapt to temperature and rainfall changes.
Tuberculosis: Will proliferate as droughts drive domestic and wild animals to share water sources.
Yellow fever: Mosquito-borne disease will spread as bugs relocate.

To see the full list, click the link below.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

A boy receives a vaccination shot against yellow fever in Asuncion, Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

A doctor examines chest X-rays at a tuberculosis clinic in Gugulethu, Cape Town, South Africa, Nov. 9, 2007. South Africa reported 343,000 TB cases in 2006. (AP Photo/Karin Schermbrucker)

Gary Kobinger works in a mobile laboratory installed by specialists of the National Public Health Agency of Canada, in Mweka, Congo, Friday, Sept. 28, 2007. (AP Photo/WHO, Christopher Black, HO)

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12 Ways Climate Change Could Kill You