Media outlets discuss the results of a study that show climate change could spur an increase in the number of malaria cases in Africa and South America.

Reuters: Climate change could mean more malaria in Africa, South America
“Future global warming could lead to a significant increase in malaria cases in densely populated regions of Africa and South America unless disease monitoring and control efforts are increased, researchers said on Thursday…” (Kelland, 3/6).

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine: Warmer temperatures push malaria to higher elevations
“Researchers have debated for more than two decades the likely impacts, if any, of global warming on the worldwide incidence of malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that infects more than 300 million people each year. Now, researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the University of Michigan, with colleagues, are reporting the first hard evidence that malaria does — as had long been predicted — creep to higher elevations during warmer years and back down to lower altitudes when temperatures cool…” (3/7).

Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Warmer Temperatures Fuel Spread of Malaria Into Higher Elevations
“In the tropical highlands of South America and East Africa, cool temperatures have historically kept mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria, at bay. New research by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) scientists shows that as annual temperatures rise in these areas, malaria can spread to populations in higher elevations that had historically not been at as much risk of being infected by malaria parasites…” (3/6).

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