United States: A new study shows that nearly 20 percent of the dengue fever cases, which are mainly caused by mosquito bites, are somehow linked to climate change. If we don’t take any kind of action to stop global warming, this number could rise to 60% by the year 2050.
These estimates are based on about 1.5 million dengue incidences that occurred in 21 affected countries in Asia and Americas between 1993 and 2019. The study covered only the countries where the disease reoccurs or is frequently spread within those regions.
As reported by the livescience, to make forecasts of infection rates, the existence of which may have consequences for the population, the researchers looked at potential variables including increasing average temperatures, variations in precipitation, and fluctuations in population density.
They then employed statistical analytical means and concluded that of these factors, temperatures were uniquely to blame for 19 percent of dengue infections.
This is according to scientists as this is the first-time climate change has been blamed for the distribution of dengue.
Scientists have elucidated views on how climate change may impact diseases transmitted by mosquitoes for years, Mordecai explained, the co-author of the study and an assistant professor of biology at Stanford University.
The body of a mosquito is also ectothermic, which implies that the inside of the body is in touch with the climate surrounding it. Mosquitoes become bigger and multiply as temperature increases and that brings about a massive increase in the number of pests in a given area capable of causing disease through their bites.
Until the new study, however, most of the previous research pointed to only correlative relationships between increasing temperatures and the emergence of contagious diseases, Mordecai said; there were no investigations which unequivocally linked the two.
In the new study, researchers concentrated on dengue because the optimal temperature for this disease is higher and thus global warming will favor the disease, according to Mordecai. That applies to areas where dengue has spread and areas where it has not spread to.