Health and Security
Experts suggest that climate change could be causing the notable increase in the spread of infectious diseases world wide. Many diseases, such as the deadly Ebola virus, are evolving and mutating in the warming climate to become more potent and resistant to efforts of human control
With a new climate come new diseases. Domestically, Americans should be worried about the increasing appearance of West Nile Virus, which is spread by the mosquito population. Increased flooding, changing precipitation patterns, and a warming climate are resulting in increases of the mosquito populations in many regions of the US.
After Hurricane Katrina, thousands of people moved from New Orleans into surrounding states. One place which housed several thousand was the Houston Astrodome. Due to the large number of people and the changes in weather which caused Katrina, cases of cholera were discovered in the dome. Generally only found in developing nations, cholera is one of the diseases that climate change threatens to exacerbate, especially in unsanitary areas like refugee camps.
Similarly, yellow fever, a devastating illness previously limited to equatorial regions, has begun to expand farther north—spurred on by growth in mosquito population. As temperatures increase, it is likely that yellow fever will begin to appear in the United States.
These are just a few of the many illnesses which are expected to expand their reach with climate change. Many have no treatments and can devastate whole populations if left unchecked. If an epidemic were to spread within the United States, at a certain point civilian organizations will be overwhelmed and will require the support of the US military, the only organization in the world that is capable of providing massive logistical support to move people, supplies, and medicine. We saw this scenario play out during Hurricane Katrina, when the 3rd Brigade from the 82nd Airborne Division was deployed in conjunction with the National Guard. Diseases can move quickly, and on a large scale you need an organization that can move just as fast. The US military will be tasked with responding to these future crises; but even when effectively combated, the casualties from an epidemic could be catastrophic.
LEARN MORE: http://humanitarianfutures.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/dengue-fever-to-spread-in-28-us-states/
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