• Question: What effect does global warming have on pathogens.

    Asked by anon-177600 to Andrew, Becky, Daniel, Helen, Nicola, Urslaan on 19 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Urslaan Chohan

      Urslaan Chohan answered on 19 Jun 2018:

      As the world heats up, pathogens are having to adapt to new environments. Those which are not adapting can die, as they cannot survive in the changing climates, such as wetter places and hotter environments. Those which adapt, evolve into new forms of the same species. Even 1 degree can make all the difference!

    • Photo: Becky Thomas

      Becky Thomas answered on 20 Jun 2018:

      This is a really interesting question, and something that concerns many scientists at the moment as the climate is changing. Urslaan gives a great answer, and all I would add is that in places like the UK which are very seasonal (cold in the winter and warmer in the summer) some pathogens would normally get knocked back in winter, but if winter temperatures increase this will happen less. This is a real problem for people growing food for example, as their crops could get infected with more pathogens.

    • Photo: Daniel Marsh

      Daniel Marsh answered on 21 Jun 2018:

      There is a lot of research that suggests that global warming may have a big impact on infectious diseases and in some cases where they are spread by insects they may occur in completely new areas

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