How serious is climate change? It is driving the spread of what were once considered “only” tropical diseases, one of which is dengue fever, nicknamed breakbone fever.
Dengue fever, which is transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, can cause symptoms that include fever, internal bleeding, and debilitating joint pain. It is fatal to thousands of people every year. Even our pets are not immune from viruses transmitted by this mosquito, one of which is dog heartworm.
A recent study in the journal Nature Microbiology predicts the spread north of mosquito-borne diseases like dengue fever could be seen in Pennsylvania as early as 2020.
The cause of climate change has been linked to increases in greenhouse gases generated by human activity. The increase in temperature correlates with the increase in greenhouse gases.
The answer to preventing the continual spread north of mosquito-borne diseases is to keep climate change to less than 2 degrees Celsius.
Many proposals have been advanced to reduce the increase in global warming. One that could end up with the most support is a carbon tax and dividend as advanced by the Citizens Climate Lobby.
A fee would be placed on carbon emissions by fossil fuels as close to the source as possible. This fee would be returned to consumers in the form of dividends. The fees would inform consumers of the true cost to allow comparisons of various fuels when deciding what to buy.
We cannot continue the way we have been in regard to greenhouse gases. Controlling greenhouse gas emissions means we could reduce climate change and consequently the spread of dengue fever as well as other mosquito-borne diseases.
MARC YERGIN
Squirrel Hill
First Published: June 18, 2019, 4:00 a.m.