[MCN] Are climate extremes creating costly new. risk of disease ?

[Lance Olsen]

AI Overview
Yes, climate extremes are creating new and escalating disease risks for the human population by expanding the geographic range of vectors like mosquitoes, concentrating pathogens in dwindling water supplies, and triggering forced displacement. Research shows that over half of all known human infectious diseases have been aggravated by climatic hazards.  <https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-12-02-new-study-warns-creeping-catastrophe-climate-change-drives-global-rise-infectious>

University of Oxford
 +3
Vector-Borne and Infectious Illnesses
Expanded habitats: Milder winters and hotter summers allow mosquitoes and ticks carrying dengue, malaria, chikungunya, and West Nile virus to thrive in regions where they were previously absent.  <https://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/topics-programs/climate-infectious-disease.html>

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | CDC (.gov)
 +1
Extreme rainfall: Cyclones and heavy downpours create widespread standing water, drastically accelerating mosquito breeding and fueling major outbreaks, such as recent dengue epidemics in the Americas.  <https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2026/03/climate-change-disease-outbreaks-dengue-fever-research>

Stanford Report
 +1
Waterborne and Food Safety Risks
Drought concentration: Severe dry periods concentrate bacteria in shrinking water supplies, raising the incidence of waterborne illnesses like cholera.  <https://thinklandscape.globallandscapesforum.org/105586/climate-change-infectious-disease/>

ThinkLandscape
Flooding contamination: Overflowing floodwaters compromise sanitation infrastructure and spread pathogens like hepatitis and diarrheal infections.  <https://www.preventionweb.net/news/58-human-infectious-diseases-can-be-worsened-climate-change-we-scoured-77000-studies-map>

PreventionWeb.net
 +1
Bacterial growth: Higher ambient temperatures accelerate bacterial proliferation in food supplies during storage and transit, increasing foodborne summer illnesses.  <https://www.euronews.com/health/2026/07/30/europes-heatwaves-are-fuelling-infectious-diseases-health-agency-warns>

Euronews.com
Direct Heat and Systemic Pressures
Heat stress: Prolonged heatwaves elevate mortality rates and strain vital organs, particularly worsening chronic cardiovascular, respiratory, and kidney diseases.  <https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-heat-and-health>

World Health Organization (WHO)
 +2
Healthcare disruption: Extreme weather events routinely damage local health infrastructure, interrupting routine treatments and emergency response capacities.  <https://healthpolicy-watch.news/global-warming-surpasses-the-limits-of-human-survival/>

Health Policy Watch
 +1



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Michael Mann: “A new normal makes it sound like we have arrived in a new position, and that's where we're going to be. But if we continue to burn fossil fuels ... we are going to ... get worse and worse droughts, and heat waves, and super storms, and floods, and wildfires.”

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/climate-change-is-making-wildfires-more-extreme-heres-how

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