Several large-scale, human-driven changes to the planet — including climate change, the loss of biodiversity and the spread of invasive species — are making infectious diseases more dangerous to people, animals and plants, according to a new study.
Scientists have documented these effects before in more targeted studies that have focused on specific diseases and ecosystems.
For instance, they have found that a warming climate may be helping malaria expand in Africa and that a decline in wildlife diversity may be boosting Lyme disease cases in North America.
But the new research, a meta-analysis of nearly 1,000 previous studies, suggests that these patterns are relatively consistent around the globe and across the tree of life.
“It’s a big step forward in the science,” said Colin Carlson, a biologist at Georgetown University, who was not an author of the new analysis.
The new analysis, which was published in Nature on Wednesday, focused on five “global change drivers” that are altering ecosystems across the planet: biodiversity change, climate change, chemical pollution, the introduction of nonnative species and habitat loss or change.
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According to a recent study, a number of significant, human-caused changes to the planet, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and the spread of invasive species, are increasing the risk of infectious diseases to humans, animals, and plants.
Scientists have previously observed similar effects in more specialized research on particular diseases and ecosystems. For example, they discovered that a declining diversity of wildlife may be contributing to an increase in Lyme disease cases in North America and that a warming climate may be aiding in the spread of malaria in Africa.
On the other hand, the new study, which is a meta-analysis of almost a thousand earlier investigations, indicates that these patterns are presumably fairly constant throughout the world and the tree of life.
According to Colin Carlson, a biologist at Georgetown University who did not contribute to the new analysis, “it’s a big step forward in the science.”. “It is imperative that health systems begin preparing for a world with biodiversity loss and climate change, and this paper is among the best examples of that kind that I believe have been published,” the author writes. “.
The researchers also discovered that urbanization lowered the risk of infectious disease, which is probably going to come as a bigger surprise.
The five “global change drivers” that are affecting ecosystems worldwide were the subject of the new analysis, which was published in Nature on Wednesday. These drivers include changes in biodiversity, climate change, chemical pollution, the introduction of nonnative species, and habitat loss or modification.
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