Biological and Physical Signs of Climate Change: Focus on Mosquito-borne Diseases

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that there is “discernible evidence” that humans—through accelerating changes in multiple forcing factors—have begun to alter the earth's climate regime. Such conclusions are based primarily upon so-called “fingerprint” studies, namely the warming pattern in the midtroposphere in the Southern Hemisphere, the disproportionate rise in nighttime and winter temperatures, and the statistical increase in extreme weather events in many nations. All three aspects of climate change and climate variability have biological implications. Detection of climate change has also drawn upon data from glacial records that indicate a general retreat of tropical summit glaciers. Here the authors examine biological (plant and insect) data, glacial findings, and temperature records taken at high-elevation, mountainous regions. It is concluded that, at high elevations, the overall trends regarding glaciers, plants, insect range, and shifting isotherms show remarkable intern...

[1]  P. Epstein,et al.  Climate and disease in Colombia , 1995, The Lancet.

[2]  D. Focks,et al.  A simulation model of the epidemiology of urban dengue fever: literature analysis, model development, preliminary validation, and samples of simulation results. , 1995, The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene.

[3]  N. Bindoff,et al.  Warming of the water column in the southwest Pacific Ocean , 1992, Nature.

[4]  S. Hales,et al.  Dengue fever epidemics in the South Pacific: driven by El Nino Southern Oscillation? , 1996, The Lancet.

[5]  P. H. Martin,et al.  Malaria and climate: sensitivity of malaria potential transmission to climate , 1995 .

[6]  T. Webb,,et al.  Patterns and rates of vegetation change during the deglaciation of eastern North America , 1987 .

[7]  W. Reisen,et al.  Effect of temperature on the transmission of western equine encephalomyelitis and St. Louis encephalitis viruses by Culex tarsalis (Diptera: Culicidae). , 1993, Journal of medical entomology.

[8]  T. H. Jetten,et al.  SENSITIVITY OF MALARIA, SCHISTOSOMIASIS AND DENGUE TO GLOBAL WARMING , 1997 .

[9]  R. Shope,et al.  Global climate change and infectious diseases. , 1991, Environmental health perspectives.

[10]  J. Travis.  Taking a Bottom-to-Sky "Slice" of the Arctic Ocean. , 1994, Science.

[11]  J. Hurrell,et al.  DECADAL VARIATIONS IN CLIMATE ASSOCIATED WITH THE NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION , 1997 .

[12]  J. Hurrell.  Decadal Trends in the North Atlantic Oscillation: Regional Temperatures and Precipitation , 1995, Science.

[13]  Thomas R. Karl,et al.  Trends in high-frequency climate variability in the twentieth century , 1995, Nature.

[14]  E. Mosley‐Thompson,et al.  "Recent warming'" ice core evidence from tropical ice cores with emphasis on Central Asia , 1993 .

[15]  J. Gregory,et al.  The Coming Climate , 1997 .

[16]  G. Retallack,et al.  Early Forest Soils and Their Role in Devonian Global Change , 1997, Science.

[17]  Catherine Zabinski,et al.  Changes in geographical range resulting from greenhouse warming: effects on biodiversity in forests , 1992 .

[18]  Stefan Hasten,et al.  Greenhouse indicators in Kenya , 1992, Nature.

[19]  A. Leaf.  Potential health effects of global climatic and environmental changes. , 1989, New England Journal of Medicine.

[20]  G. Grabherr,et al.  Climate effects on mountain plants , 1994, Nature.

[21]  S. Elias.  Quaternary insects and their environments , 1995 .

[22]  M. Bouma,et al.  Cycles of malaria associated with El Niño in Venezuela. , 1997, JAMA.

[23]  J. Patz,et al.  Global climate change and emerging infectious diseases. , 1996, JAMA.

[24]  M. B. Davis,et al.  Lags in vegetation response to greenhouse warming , 1989 .

[25]  B. Meillon.  Entomological Studies-Observations on Anopheles funestus and Anopheles gambiae in the Transvaal. , 1934 .

[26]  K.,et al.  Potential effect of global warming on mosquito-borne arboviruses. , 1994, Journal of medical entomology.

[27]  Kevin P. Gallo,et al.  A new perspective on recent global warming: asymmetric trends of daily maximum and minimum temperature , 1993 .

[28]  I M Longini,et al.  Determinants and predictors of dengue infection in Mexico. , 1991, American journal of epidemiology.

[29]  W. Wernsdorfer,et al.  The epidemiology of human malaria as an explanation of its distribution, including some implications for its control. , 1988 .

[30]  R. Sutherst.  Impact of climate change on pests and diseases in Australasia. , 1990 .

[31]  Wyndham Ch,et al.  Climate and disease. , 1978, South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde.

[32]  S. Gilman,et al.  Climate-Related, Long-Term Faunal Changes in a California Rocky Intertidal Community , 1995, Science.

[33]  K. Briffa,et al.  Seasonal temperatures in Britain during the past 22,000 years, reconstructed using beetle remains , 1987, Nature.

[34]  R. Carcavallo,et al.  Some Health Impacts of Global Warming in South America:Vector-Borne Diseases , 1996 .

[35]  N. Graham,et al.  Simulation of Recent Global Temperature Trends , 1995, Science.

[36]  T. C. Johns,et al.  A search for human influences on the thermal structure of the atmosphere , 1995, Nature.

[37]  A. C. Neiswander.  Climate and disease. , 1963, Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy.

[38]  H. Diaz.  Climatic change at high elevation sites , 1997 .

[39]  G. Macdonald.  The Epidemiology and Control of Malaria. , 1957 .

[40]  J. Overpeck,et al.  Potential Magnitude of Future Vegetation Change in Eastern North America: Comparisons with the Past , 1991, Science.

[41]  L. L. Sloss.  The geology of North America , 1988 .

[42]  D. Dahlsten,et al.  Eradication of Exotic Pests: Analysis with Case Histories , 1989 .

[43]  Y. Matsuoka,et al.  AN ESTIMATION OF CLIMATIC CHANGE EFFECTS ON MALARIA , 1995 .

[44]  M. Bouma,et al.  Climate change and periodic epidemic malaria , 1994, The Lancet.

[45]  J. Houghton,et al.  Climate change 1995: the science of climate change. , 1996 .

[46]  Camille Parmesan,et al.  Climate and species' range , 1996, Nature.

[47]  Michael J. Nelson,et al.  Registro de altitud del Aedes Aegypti en Colombia , 1981 .

[48]  B. Callander,et al.  Basic science of climate change , 1993, The Lancet.

[49]  H. Leeson.  Longevity of Anopheles maculipennis race atroparvus , van Thiel, at controlled Temperature and Humidity after one Blood Meal , 1939 .

[50]  M. Blumthaler,et al.  Health and climate change , 1994, The Lancet.

[51]  J Rotmans,et al.  Potential impact of global climate change on malaria risk. , 1995, Environmental health perspectives.

[52]  G. Grabherr,et al.  Effects of climate change on mountain ecosystems -- Upward shifting of alpine plants , 1996 .

[53]  Thomas C. Peterson,et al.  Maximum and Minimum Temperature Trends for the Globe , 1997 .

[54]  S. Lindsay,et al.  Malaria in the African highlands: past, present and future. , 1998, Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

[55]  J. Zucker.  Changing patterns of autochthonous malaria transmission in the United States: a review of recent outbreaks. , 1996, Emerging infectious diseases.

[56]  Lena Iredell,et al.  Characteristics of the TOVS Pathfinder Path A Dataset , 1997 .

[57]  G. Parrilla,et al.  Rising temperatures in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean over the past 35 years , 1994, Nature.

[58]  E. Some.  Effects and control of highland malaria epidemic in Uasin Gishu District, Kenya. , 1994, East African medical journal.

[59]  N. Graham,et al.  Recent changes in tropical freezing heights and the role of sea surface temperature , 1996, Nature.

[60]  W. Wernsdorfer,et al.  Malaria: Principles and Practice of Malariology , 1989 .

[61]  P. Anderson,et al.  The Emergence of New Plant Diseases: The Case of Insect‐transmitted Plant Viruses , 1994, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[62]  M. Loevinsohn,et al.  Climatic warming and increased malaria incidence in Rwanda , 1994, The Lancet.

[63]  Dean Roemmich,et al.  Climatic Warming and the Decline of Zooplankton in the California Current , 1995, Science.

[64]  D. Pimentel,et al.  Economic and Environmental Benefits of Biodiversity , 1997 .