Environmental Changes Are Making Infectious Diseases More Dangerous, Study Finds

The New York Times (5/8, Anthes) reports, “Several large-scale, human-driven changes to the planet – including climate change, the loss of biodiversity and the spread of invasive species – are making infectious diseases more dangerous to people, animals and plants, according to a new study.” The research, published in Nature, “suggests that these patterns are relatively consistent around the globe and across the tree of life.” However, “in what is likely to come as a more surprising finding, the researchers also found that urbanization decreased the risk of infectious disease.” The Washington Post (5/8, Dance) reports, “Researchers said the study is the first to look at the ways such a variety of environmental problems can compound disease risks. It combined hundreds of studies and thousands of observations of all kinds of creatures – humans and other mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, worms and arthropods – and all kinds of pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria and fungi.”