Washington Post: Another deadly consequence of climate change: The spread of dangerous diseases
Brian Deese, senior fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard’s Kennedy School, and Ronald A. Klain, contributing Washington Post columnist, White House Ebola response coordinator from 2014 to 2015, and senior adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign

“With President Trump’s decision on U.S. participation in the Paris climate accords expected in the next few days, there has been widespread discussion of the many consequences that climate change will have for us and our children, including extreme weather events, displacement of people, submergence of lands, and devastation to our oceans. But one of the most potentially deadly effects has been far less discussed: an increase in the spread of dangerous epidemics and the risk of a global pandemic. … If we fail to integrate planning for the impact of climate change with planning for the prevention and management of pandemic disease, the consequences will be deadly. … As climate change accelerates the movement of people, the risks of disease formation and transmission will multiply. … There is no strategy to close our borders or shut our doors that can keep temperatures from rising, disease vectors from spreading, and humans from interacting in ways that create new vulnerabilities. The only way to keep our country safe is to better understand the science behind climate change and disease, better prepare our communities and public health officials to respond, and better arm other countries to anticipate the spread of these threats before they spill over national borders. Denying this reality will have deadly consequences” (5/30).