The Daily Climate

ATHENS, Ga. – Diarrhea, cholera and tick-borne illness: As the climate changes, a host of health threats are predicted to escalate, experts say. Temperatures and rainfall will have an "overwhelming" effect on tick-borne disease. Strong winds could spread anthrax. West Nile virus is susceptible to changes in temperature and rainfall.

Environmental changes already underway are allowing public health experts to establish stronger links between global warming and infectious disease.

An analysis of pathogens in Europe that pose a serious threat to humans or animals, such as anthrax and cholera, found that climate change could influence 60 percent of these diseases. That's "a remarkably high number," said Matthew Baylis, an epidemiologist at the University of Liverpool in the UK, who presented his work this week at a symposium on infectious diseases and climate change at the University of Georgia.

He predicts temperatures and rainfall will have an "overwhelming" effect on tick-borne disease. Strong winds could spread anthrax. West Nile virus is susceptible to changes in temperature and rainfall.