Content by: EcoHealth – www.ecohealth101.org
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Animals, large and small – and even bacteria in dirt – hide medical miracles. The key is to find them before too much of the natural world is lost.
Content by: EcoHealth – www.ecohealth101.org
Posted by: Eco-Question Editor
Source: EcoHealth – www.ecohealth101.org
Photo Credit: © Philippe Rekacewicz, UNEP/GRID-Arendal
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Human actions are dramatically changing environments around the globe – some making great habitats for mosquitoes and other disease-spreading animals. All this can spark new epidemics.
Clearing a forest, building a dam, even irrigating a field-these human actions change the environment in small, or sometimes dramatic ways. Landscapes are transformed. Water flows to new areas. Species arrive. Species depart.
These environmental changes often encourage outbreaks of infectious diseases. Why? Pathogens, or organisms that cause illness, may spread more easily, and disease vectors, that carry the disease, may behave in new ways. On the flip side, a few diseases may decrease when the environment changes.
Content by: EcoHealth – www.ecohealth101.org
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Every day, hundreds of millions of people take to the road, to escape war, seek a better life, or go on vacation. Uninvited guests – disease-causing microbes – often hitch a ride.
One major worry around the world right now is a brand-new deadly disease called SARS – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. A virus, which experts believe jumped from farm animals to humans in China, causes SARS. The disease spreads easily and researchers are working hard to develop vaccines and treatments.
Throughout human history, people have unknowingly carried disease-causing microbes from place to place, often with disastrous results. In the centuries after Christopher Columbus first landed in the Americas, Europeans brought infectious diseases that killed tens of millions of people – 80 to 90 percent of the native population.
Content by: EcoHealth – www.ecohealth101.org
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A century ago, ten percent of the world’s population lived in cities. Today it’s more than half. As cities grow and spread, so do the problems and challenges they face.
It’s easy to take cities for granted, but they are one of humanity’s greatest achievements. Most medieval cities had no more than 50,000 inhabitants. In 1800, the 100 largest cities averaged 200,000 people. Only Beijing, China, and London, England, had more than a million. By 1950, more than 80 cities had populations over a million.
Today, lack of jobs in rural areas and small towns pushes more and more people into cities. Growth of metropolitan areas puts the squeeze on housing, sanitation, water supply, transportation, and health services. By the year 2020, cities are likely to be home to more than 60 percent of the estimated 7.5 billion people expected to be on Earth.
Content by: EcoHealth – www.ecohealth101.org
Posted by: Eco-Question Editor
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Photo Credit: © Napapun Wongtala
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As Earth heats up, ice melts and sea levels rise – and much of the water grows warmer. That means a tidal wave of problems for coastal areas and the four billion people who live there.
Many people think of "the beach" mainly as a place to relax. But our coastal areas are much more than that. In ancient times, oceans provided all-you-can-catch food, and boats often were the easiest way to get around.
Ports grew into prosperous and mighty cities. Many remain important trade centers today. Fishing and shipping still are huge industries. Two-thirds of Earth’s six billion people live in coastal areas – and this number keeps growing.
That means that whether the sea grows hotter – as a result of global warming isn’t just an issue for scientists and environmentalists. It could mean a flood of trouble for everyone.
Content by: EcoHealth – www.ecohealth101.org
Posted by: Eco-Question Editor
Source: EcoHealth – www.ecohealth101.org
Photo Credit: © Philippe Rekacewicz, UNEP/GRID-Arendal
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Vectors are critters that transport bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Case studies may offer clues to how global warming will affect vectors – and the deadly illnesses they spread.
Think of vectors as the taxis of the disease world. Bacteria, viruses, and parasites ride from one person (or animal) to another. As the vector goes about its life, the disease spreads. Vector-borne diseases are some of the most deadly and unpredictable medical problems that humans face.
Most vectors are bloodsucking arthropods – animals with external skeletons, segmented bodies, and jointed limbs. "Superstar" vectors include fleas, mites, ticks, and (of course) mosquitoes. Lapping blood from animals or humans, these creatures also pick up disease-causing microbes or germs. The vector doesn’t get sick. But it does transfer the microbes to the next person it bites. The microbes then infect that person.
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