Global Warming: Enough to Make you Sick
Oyster men in Alaska have never had to deal with the bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a dangerous microbe infected in warmer waters like the gulf of Mexico. However, water in Alaska has been getting warm enough for the dangerous microbe to survive in the 59 degree water. Due to this, cruise ship passengers in Alaska that had eaten local oysters came down with diarrhea, cramping, and vomiting...the first cases of Vibrio food poisoning in Alaska. Scientists later determined that it wasn't just the bacterium but the warming water that allowed them to migrate.
The spread of human disease is one of the main fears scientists have with global climate change. Incremental changes in temperature is allowing for a re-distribution of bacterium, insects, and plants (invasive species)...introducing people to new diseases that they have never seen before.
In Sweden, fewer colder days in winter and warmer days in summer has caused the migration of ticks northward, which coincides with the increase in the tick-borne disease encephalitis.
Researchers say that poison ivy has become more lush and potent, due to more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
In Africa, as higher elevations are getting warmer, mosquitoes are following to Mt. Kenya...introducing malaria to villages that have never been exposed to before.
Scientists agree that global warming is not the sole cause of the spread of new diseases to new areas, but do acknowledge that it certainly is a contributing factor.
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Former Vice President Al Gore recently win an Academy Award for his documentary film about what too many of our leaders have refused to take seriously.
Maybe now, the blended, extended family members of humanity's culturally diverse global village will start paying closer attention to how we all can do our part to stop global warming.
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