INTRODUCTION

There’s a kind of doomsday feel to things right now - have you noticed? It’s not just that the Mayan calendar runs out on December 21st of next year. It’s not even the plethora of new warnings from astrophysicists, doctors and geologists about the possibly catastrophic events that are now known to be on the not-too-distant horizon. It has more to do with the zeitgeist, an undifferentiated sense that things can’t go on like they are forever.
And, of course, there are clues. Almost daily, items half-buried in news reports point to the Doom scenarios just lurking around the corner. Maybe you are too busy or too trapped in denial to notice them all, so this blog is here to help you keep track.

Thursday, 1 December 2011

Something to Worry About Today

Warm weather ahead? Yippee!  

There are some people around who look forward to global warming, who just can’t wait for balmy days on the Costa del Solihull.  And come to think of it, isn’t a bit of warm weather healthier, anyway?  Fewer colds and flu in winter? No problem, right?

Until you get malaria.

Scientists warn that even a small rise in average temperatures in Europe and North America could bring about new waves of deadly insect-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and encephalitis. To further complicate things, ticks and sand flies that carry maladies like Lyme disease and black fever would find our environment pleasant. Already, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Turkey have become danger areas for malaria.

When our book went to press in June, 2011, conventional wisdom had it that an average temperature rise of .8 degrees was the total rise since 1950.  Recently, the Berkeley Earth Temperatures programme upped the total to .911 C. At that rate, we would begin to see diseases against which we have no natural defences very soon.

Forget about new sun suits.  Buy mosquito nets instead.
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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous2 December 2011 at 16:46

    Actually, for the first time in memorable history we now have Dengue Fever being reported in the Bahamas. There were several cases of it in October in Nassau and there have been several Government alerts to be on the lookout... whatever that means. But none in Abaco yet.
    b

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