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Irish Post
2 days ago
- Health
- Irish Post
Heatwaves have ‘major impact' on spread of disease
HEATWAVES can have a major influence on the spread of disease new research by Irish scientists has found. The study conducted by researchers at Trinity College Dublin, found that a multitude of factors related to sudden heatwaves can have a significant impact on environmentally transmitted diseases. It also found that many existing predictive models related to the spread of disease have overlooked this factor. 'While scientists have a relatively good idea of how temperature impacts some viruses and disease-causing pathogens and parasites, they know much less about the effects of sudden heatwaves or cold snaps, or how influential variation in the duration of these events are,' the report authors explain. Specifically, the scientists discovered that differences in heatwaves – such as how much hotter they are than normal temperatures, and how long they last – can increase or decrease disease burden by up to 13 times. Their discovery and its implications come at a time when global climate change and related extreme weather events are impacting counties across the globe, and their findings have been published in the leading international journal PLOS Climate. 'In this study, we worked with the water flea (Daphnia magna) and a microsporidian pathogen (Ordospora colligata), which is a widely used model for environmentally transmitted diseases, to investigate the impacts of different heatwave attributes,' first author, Niamh McCartan, a PhD candidate from Trinity's School of Natural Sciences, said this week. 'We manipulated the amplitude and duration of heatwaves across four average temperatures and four distinct time points at which the hosts were exposed to the pathogen. 'This approach gave us 64 unique heatwaves for comparison.' The results showed that, when compared to other types of temperature variation, such as cold snaps, heatwaves alter parasite burden up to 13-fold, which drives significant variation in infection outcomes. 'A recently published study reported that 58 per cent of human pathogenic diseases have been aggravated by climate change, with temperature changes impacting host susceptibility due to altering biological properties such as how our immune systems function, as well as our behaviour,' Ms McCartan explained. 'From a bigger-picture perspective, this work underlines the need for more detailed, context-specific models to help better predict the likely impact of heatwaves and climate change on different diseases. 'We now know that amplitude, duration, baseline temperature and the point at which exposure occurs have differing effects in shaping disease outcomes, so overly simplified models may miss critical complexities.' She explained: 'For example, other researchers have suggested almost 70 per cent of Covid-19 cases in the summer of 2022 could have been avoided if there hadn't been heatwaves around that time – imagine the difference that a better understanding of how heatwaves alter disease dynamics could have made to countless people?' 'Climate change is also causing mosquito species that carry diseases like dengue, Zika, and malaria to be increasingly found in parts of southern and central Europe, including Italy and France, areas that were previously too cool to support them. 'While Ireland has so far been less affected, the findings of our study highlight the urgent need to understand how warming and extreme weather events can alter disease dynamics more broadly. 'With all of this in mind, it's important that future disease-specific models must account for fluctuating and extreme temperatures, not just averages.' See More: Disease, Heatwave, Research, TCD
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Climate
- Irish Times
Influence of heatwave and cold snaps on spread of disease likely underestimated, says study
The influence of heatwaves fuelled by climate change and cold snaps on the spread of diseases is likely to have been underestimated using current prediction methods, Irish scientists have found. Researchers at Trinity College Dublin have shown differences in heatwaves – such as how much hotter they are than normal temperatures and how long they last – 'can increase or decrease disease burden by up to 13 times, when it comes to parasites infecting humans'. Their discovery coincides with climate change and related extreme weather events impacting across the planet and predicted to get worse. 'Given the increased frequency and intensity of heatwaves in particular, it's crucial to understand how these events will affect the spread of disease,' said postgraduate researcher at TCD School of Natural Sciences, Niamh McCartan, lead author of a study published in PLOS Climate on Wednesday. READ MORE [ Commitment to climate action hard to find in Government Opens in new window ] While scientists have a relatively good idea of how temperature impacts some viruses and disease-causing pathogens and parasites, they know much less about the effects of sudden heatwaves or cold snaps, or how influential variation in duration of these events are, she said. 'Climate change is also causing mosquito species that carry diseases like dengue, Zika, and malaria to be increasingly found in parts of southern and central Europe, including Italy and France, areas that were previously too cool to support them,' she said . 'While Ireland has so far been less affected, the findings of our study highlight the urgent need to understand how warming and extreme weather events can alter disease dynamics more broadly.' They worked with the water flea and a tiny 'microsporidian pathogen' that are used widely to predict environmentally transmitted diseases. 'This approach gave us 64 unique heatwaves for comparison.' A recently published study reported '58 per cent of human pathogenic diseases have been aggravated by climate change, with temperature changes impacting host susceptibility due to altering biological properties such as how our immune systems function, as well as our behaviour', Ms McCartan said. Overly simplified models 'may miss critical complexities', she said. 'Future disease-specific models must account for fluctuating and extreme temperatures, not just averages.' Other research has suggested almost 70 per cent of Covid-19 cases in the summer of 2022 could have been avoided if there had not been heatwaves around that time. 'Imagine the difference that a better understanding of how heatwaves alter disease dynamics could have made to countless people,' she said.
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Climate
- Irish Examiner
Heatwaves have a major impact on the spread of many diseases — Irish research
New research from scientists in Ireland strongly implies that heatwaves have a major influence on the spread of many diseases. Specifically, the scientists have discovered that differences in heatwaves — such as how much hotter they are than normal temperatures, and how long they last — can increase disease burden by up to 13 times in a commonly used experimental animal model. Their discovery and its implications come at an important time, with global climate change and related extreme weather events continuing to impact many in various ways (temperatures approached 50°C in Pakistan last month, while a cold snap in South Africa approached freezing conditions). Given the increased frequency and intensity of heatwaves in particular, it's crucial to understand how these events will affect the spread of disease. Daphnia magna (water flea). Picture: Dieter Ebert While scientists have a relatively good idea of how temperature impacts some viruses and disease-causing pathogens and parasites, they know much less about the effects of sudden heatwaves or cold snaps, or how influential variation in the duration of these events are. That is what the scientists behind the new research, just published in the leading international journal PLOS Climate, set out to explore. Niamh McCartan: "While Ireland has so far been less affected, the findings of our study highlight the urgent need to understand how warming and extreme weather events can alter disease dynamics more broadly.' First author, Niamh McCartan, a PhD candidate from Trinity College Dublin's s School of Natural Sciences, noted: 'From a bigger-picture perspective, this work underlines the need for more detailed, context-specific models to help better predict the likely impact of heatwaves and climate change on different diseases. We now know that amplitude, duration, baseline temperature and the point at which exposure occurs have differing effects in shaping disease outcomes, so overly simplified models may miss critical complexities. For example, other researchers have suggested almost 70% of covid-19 cases in the summer of 2022 could have been avoided if there hadn't been heatwaves around that time — imagine the difference that a better understanding of how heatwaves alter disease dynamics could have made to countless people.' The results revealed that complex interactions exist between heatwave attributes and baseline temperatures, which in turn drive context-dependent effects on both pathogen prevalence and proliferation. Perhaps most importantly, when compared to other types of temperature variation (such as cold snaps), heatwaves behave differently — altering parasite burden up to 13-fold, and thus driving significant variation in infection outcomes. Parasite spore clusters (Ordospora colligata) seen as black dots within the gut of the host, Daphnia magna Niamh McCartan explained: 'In this study, we worked with the water flea (Daphnia magna) and a microsporidian pathogen (Ordospora colligata), which are a widely used model for environmentally transmitted diseases, to investigate the impacts of different heatwave attributes. We manipulated the amplitude and duration of heatwaves across four average temperatures and four distinct time points at which the hosts were exposed to the pathogen. This approach gave us 64 unique heatwaves for comparison.' 'A recently published study reported that 58% of human pathogenic diseases have been aggravated by climate change, with temperature changes impacting host susceptibility due to altering biological properties such as how our immune systems function, as well as our behaviour." 'Climate change is also causing mosquito species that carry diseases like dengue, Zika, and malaria to be increasingly found in parts of southern and central Europe, including Italy and France, areas that were previously too cool to support them. While Ireland has so far been less affected, the findings of our study highlight the urgent need to understand how warming and extreme weather events can alter disease dynamics more broadly.' 'With all of this in mind, it's important that future disease-specific models must account for fluctuating and extreme temperatures, not just averages.' In addition to this big-picture perspective, the findings of this work also have more specific, valuable insights for freshwater ecology, given that the water flea plays an important role in freshwater food webs, helping to support numerous other species that use them as a food source. In other cases, when their numbers plummet, algae can take over and negatively impact water quality, which in turn has a suite of negative, knock-on effects. This work was funded by a Research Ireland (formerly Science Foundation Ireland) Frontiers for the Future award. Note: Although not all findings transfer directly across species, the animal model used in these experiments shares key features with many real-world disease systems, making it a powerful tool for uncovering general principles about how climate extremes might reshape disease dynamics.
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Health
- Bloomberg
The Unexpected Ways Heat is Changing How Parasites Spread Disease
When researchers mimicked heat waves in the lab to see how climate change might affect the spread of disease, they found that dialing up the temperature had the potential to lead to two very different outcomes: A spike in the population of disease-spreading parasites or a collapse in their numbers. While scientists have known for decades that heat waves lead to the proliferation of disease, from mosquito-borne malaria to respiratory infections like pneumonia, it's becoming increasingly clear that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, such diseases won't spread evenly. The new research, which was published in PLOS Climate on Wednesday, suggests that factors like how long heat waves last and how hot they get can determine whether a community is hit by a disease breakout or spared.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Climate change: How a warming planet could affect the taste of B.C. wine
Future sommeliers may have something very different on the nose, as climate change alters the taste of wine in regions around the world. A global study led by UBC researchers, and published this week in the journal PLOS Climate, found that temperatures during the grape-growing season have increased across the world's major wine regions — including B.C. — and that the heat is changing the taste of wine. For the study, researchers analyzed temperatures over the growing seasons in wine regions on five continents and studied 500 varieties of grapes. They studied the temperatures during dormancy, budding, and during harvest. The climate data will eventually allow scientists to recommend which varieties of wine grape are best suited to the changing climate in different regions, including those with unique climate challenges such as intense heat waves, drought and wildfire smoke. 'We want to be able to say to growers, OK, there's 1,000 varieties out there. Here are some recommendations on which ones to consider,' said Elizabeth Wolkovich, senior author of the study and an associate professor at UBC's faculty of forestry. On average, the regions have warmed by the equivalent of almost 100 extra growing degree-days, a measure of the cumulative heat that vines are exposed to, according to the study. Impacts of a hotter climate include lower grape yields, heat damage to berries and vegetation, and an industry that is rapidly working to adapt, the study says. Speaking Friday from Zurich, where she is working with colleagues who contributed to the global study, Wolkovich said this heat can affect harvest times and grape ripening, which changes the taste of the wine. 'Most of the wine you drink from Europe and North America is already a different flavour profile due to climate change than you drank 30 or 40 years ago. The biggest obvious change is that the grapes are more sugar rich, and that means they are also higher in alcohol,' she said. As the weather gets warmer, the grapes develop faster. For instance, she said the grapes are ripening in parts of France in late August instead of September. 'When they ripen in late August, and are exposed to hotter temperatures, the grapes build up sugar faster. The grapes you harvest have higher sugar acid ratios, so the balance in the wine is different.' The acidity, which gives the wine its zest, declines in warmer weather while pigments in wine called anthocyanins, which give the wine its colour, break down. Tannins may not develop if the grapes are plucked too early to compensate for the heat. 'I would say it would taste a little bit more like jam, or what you would call like a fruitier wine, and it would maybe be generally a little darker, less light in the flavour profile, and, on average, a little bit less complex for a red wine,' she said, but emphasized that expert winemakers are skilled at compensating for this change. Around the world, scorching heat, wildfires and other climate-related disasters have already decimated crops, including here in B.C. The province's wine industry is still recovering after two years of climate-related crop losses in the southern Interior. Record-breaking heat, wildfires and smoke tainted grapes, while a destructive cold snap in 2023 and 2024 caused significant crop loss across the province. Varieties of grape most affected in B.C. were Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, with projected losses of more than 65 per cent, according to a report last year from Wine Growers B.C. Wolkovich said there are hundreds of varieties in Spain, Italy and Greece 'that you've probably never heard of' that could work well at some point for B.C. growers as the heat intensifies. One example is Xinomavro, a wine grape that tolerates the dry heat of Greece. The difference is Mediterranean regions like Greece have longer growing seasons than B.C. so the trick is to find varieties that have a shorter ripening time but are also heat-resistant. On that note, Wolkovich also said there are varieties from the mountainous regions of Spain that B.C. growers haven't tried that could work well as the temperatures increase. 'So regions in Spain that are at higher elevations have shorter growing seasons, but they also are hot — the way the Okanagan is hot. And I know that certain vineyards have looked into them and would love to try them.' She said the problem isn't that the consumer won't want to drink these hardier varieties, but that there are hurdles in Canada to importing the rootstock. Kathy Malone, chair of the B.C. Wine Grape Council research and development committee, said winemakers are wary of testing new varieties when it takes years for the grapes to grow and mature in flavour. Malone, who is also a winemaker at Hillside Winery and Bistro in Naramata, said there are efforts underway to get experimental plots going in B.C. 'You could have very small plots of varieties that no one's ever heard of and make a small amount of wine, but then you could blend that into another wine.' She said it's very difficult for B.C. winemakers to make decisions about new varieties that will be cold-resistant and that the focus should be on the warming climate and what varieties will survive intense heat. After last year's cold snap, Hillside will be planting the Malbec variety, which is less cold-hardy than Merlot but will do much better under the increasingly hotter Okanagan summers. 'I don't think there was much Malbec planted in the 80s and 90s, because it requires longer hang time and more heat. But now we're getting that heat more and more,' she said. 'The seasons are expected to be hotter and longer moving north. In some areas, like in Napa, it's a challenge because it's too hot and they have berries drying up on the vine.' For the study, scientists developed climate metrics for the world's wine regions that spanned the annual plant cycle of a calendar year. They found the biggest impact is in southern and western Europe, where the number of days over 35 C is the highest of all regions, with nearly five times as many extreme heat days compared with 1980. 'The temperature increases here (in B.C.) aren't as dramatic as in Europe, which is something that as a community, we're still trying to understand,' said Wolkovich. Growers are testing methods to adapt. Some are using shade cloth to protect vines from heat while others are planting new rootstocks and varieties. The study also looked at regions affected by wildfire smoke and how widespread fires in Australia led to technologies and approaches that could be used in California or in B.C. For example, some winemakers are now installing sensors in the vineyard to know when smoke is about to affect the grapes. ticrawford@ With files from The Canadian Press 'Clean slate' to reshape B.C. wine industry, after climate-related catastrophes Anthony Gismondi: Wineries step forward to fight climate change Anthony Gismondi: Assessing how deep freeze affected B.C. vineyards remains a work in progress
