Climate-Sensitive Infectious Diseases
摘要
Human activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, has sharply increased atmospheric greenhouse gas levels, driving climate changes marked by rising global temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, rising sea levels, and intensifying extreme weather events. These changes have serious implications for human health, including through their impact on infectious diseases. Climate-sensitive infectious diseases are those whose transmission, vectors, and pathogens are shaped by weather and climatic factors such as temperature, humidity, rainfall, and extreme weather. For instance, pathogens often develop within specific temperature ranges, while temperature influences both the reproduction rate and incubation period of pathogens in vectors, as well as the geographic distribution of these vectors. This chapter explores climate-sensitive infectious diseases—including waterborne, vector-borne, and fungal infections—, highlights examples of adaptation measures, and emphasizes the urgent need for coordinated action to mitigate human-driven climate change and disruptions to the Earth’s systems.