Gizmodo: The Plague Is More Likely Now Thanks to Climate Change
Guest essay by Eric Worrall
A new study suggests that climate change is increasing the risk of humans contracting the plague. But the risk factors identified, even if the study is right, seem entirely manageable.
The Plague Is More Likely Now Thanks to Climate Change
Molly Taft
November 20, 2021 at 8:50 am
The risk of the plague spilling over from humans to animals in the western U.S. has increased since 1950 thanks to climate change, a new study has found. Importantly, the research gives valuable insights into how this deadly disease has historically moved and developed in the U.S., which can help us understand more about its future.
Yersinia pestis is the bacteria that causes plague — including that plague, the medieval Black Death, which killed around 25 million people over the course of four years in the 1300s. The bacteria is spread to humans from animals, most infamously rats, which carry plague-infested fleas on them. Scientists have theorised that the plague, like many other infectious diseases, will probably increase its spread to humans as the planet warms and people come into increasingly closer contact with wild animals.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/11/20/gizmodo-the-plague-is-more-likely-now-thanks-to-climate-change/
