NASA Studies the Relationship Between Climate Change and the Influenza Outbreak All Over the US

According to NASA satellite data, low humidity and the flu outbreak in the United States are linked.

Influenza Outbreak

AUSTRALIA-WEATHER-FLOODS — SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images

What causes the influenza virus to spread?

Using data from NASA's Aqua satellite's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), recent research of the flu across the 48 contiguous United States has discovered that the answer is strongly connected to local weather - notably, low humidity - and changes from state to state.

Humidity

The average humidity varies significantly across the United Areas, but it reduces as winter approaches, even in the most humid states.

From 2003 to 2015, researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the University of Southern California compared AIRS observations of water vapor in the lower atmosphere with flu case estimates for each week.

The researchers discovered that each state has a distinct degree of low humidity that might indicate an impending flu pandemic.

Each year, when this threshold is exceeded, a significant spike in flu cases occurs within two or three weeks on average.

These low-humidity thresholds are pretty similar to the typical climate of each state.

Ones with humid climates, such as those in the Southeast, have higher threshold values than desert states, such as those in the West and Southwest.

Also Read : Climate Change is Making the Spread of Deadly Diseases More Rampant

Climate Change and Infectious Disease

Where Seas Die And Earthquakes Are Born - The Southern Tip of the San Andreas Fault — CALIPATRIA, CA - JANUARY 01: Mud is seen on land that was under the Salton Sea a few years ago on January 1, 2019 near Calipatria, California, United States. Scientists believe that the southern portion of the San Andreas Fault will inevitably give birth to a massive earthquake, bigger than any that has occurred in Southern California in modern history. On top of the fault lies a rift lake, the Salton Sea, which is the latest in a series of great lakes to form then dry up with the changing course of the Colorado River throughout geologic history. The changing weight of these lakes is thought to have had a regulating effect by triggering periodic approximately magnitude 7 earthquakes to relieve built up tectonic pressures. That process stalled when the Colorado River was tamed by technology in the early 1900's and pressure is building. The current Salton Sea, California's biggest lake, formed when an irrigation engineering project accident in 1905 allowed the Colorado River to flood into the Salton Sink and form the body of water that would become more visited than Yosemite Valley in the mid- 20th Century. It also became one of the most important stops for migrating birds in the North America. Now the increasingly salty water has killed most of the fish that millions of birds, such as white pelicans and eared grebes that make up 80 to 95 percent of the Western populations have relied on. The sea has spiraled into ecological collapse and is drying up after decades of debate and insufficient action have failed to stop it. The demise of the lake is now accelerating since some water that would normally flow into the sea has been sold to coastal cities. Photo by David McNew/Getty Images for Lumix

Long-term alterations in meteorological conditions and extreme weather occurrences or climate change patterns may result in changes in the health risks to humans, exacerbating current health issues.

The scientific data on the influence of climate change on human infectious illnesses are examined in this review. It outlines scientific advancements and gaps in our understanding of how human society may respond to, adapt to, and prepare for these changes.

Variations in weather conditions and patterns of extreme weather occurrences are caused by climate change.

The health consequences of climate change on human infectious illnesses (including changes in climatic variables and extreme weather events) are imposed through pathogens, hosts/vectors, and disease transmission.

Climatic conditions limit the spread of several infectious illnesses both regionally and temporally.

Changes in climatic variables on regional or temporal scales will impact disease pathogens, hosts, and their interactions with humans in terms of development, survival, reproduction, and livability.

Extreme Weather Events

Flooding — NARINDER NANU/AFP via Getty Images

Extreme weather events and meteorological risks cause abrupt and drastic changes in weather conditions, which significantly impact many infectious illnesses.

Because we don't know everything, predicting the patterns of extreme weather occurences and health effects is difficult.

Finally, extreme weather, such as large-scale extreme weather events and meteorological hazards, sometimes includes many climatic variables shifting together, making it more challenging to forecast the consequences for disease pathogens, hosts, and transmission.

Climate change-related health problems affect humans in more ways than one.

By taking proactive adaptation steps to prevent and mitigate the adverse health effects of climate change, we can play a substantial and active role.