ABSTRACT
Infectious diseases pose a severe hazard to global health. Environmental elements such as temperature, rainfall, and humidity, influenced by climate change, have impacted many infectious disease-causing organisms. Malaria, West Nile virus, Ebola, dengue fever, yellow fever, Zika, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and COVID-19 have all evolved from both anthroponotic and zoonotic pathogens in recent decades, with vector-borne zoonotic pathogens playing a pivotal role in how climate change influences the spread of infectious diseases. Weather variations, El Niño and La Niña, and extended periods (decades or centuries) constitute identifiable time scales of climate change contributing to anthropogenic climatic, demographic, and technological changes and enhancing infectious disease risk. Although the logic for linking climate change and infectious disease is apparent, the evidence of significant impacts of climate change on communicable disease has been sparse. Therefore, it is paramount to document existing evidence and future climate change forecasts as emerging drivers of infectious diseases. Additionally, while this chapter links climate change to infectious disease, it reviews common climate change-associated infectious diseases while suggesting a helpful approach to addressing climate change-dependent pandemics.
