Effects of Climate Change on Virus Emergence
Climate Change Conversations brought to you by Yale Alumni Academy and Harvard Alumni Travels
Historic pandemics and the ongoing COVID-19 crisis emphasize the biomedical threats caused by virus evolution, and the need to better predict when and how viruses are driven to emerge on new host species such as humans. Global climate change affects whether or not biological populations will thrive under new environmental challenges. It is reasonable to expect that some infectious disease pathogens will adapt to changing environmental conditions and potentially increase in prevalence, whereas others will suffer negative effects that lead to geographic range contractions and even local extinctions. This webinar examines current and future effects of climate fluctuations and their potential impacts on parasites and pathogens. In particular, we will explore the influence of climate change on virus evolution, and the probability that human populations will encounter greater or fewer emerging virus pathogens in the near future. Register here.