Malaria kills about 1 to 2 million people a year worldwide. About 90 percent of new cases occur in Africa and Southeast Asia. Although the disease is now rare in developed countries, that could change with global warming, researchers in Italy warn. As soon as 50 years from now, they say, malaria could spread to parts of the world that are now too cold to support the life cycle of the mosquitoes and their parasites that transmit the disease.
Some 50 to 60 different mosquito species of the Anopheles genus harbor the four species of parasite--a single-celled protozoan called a plasmodium--that cause malaria. The most dangerous of the four dies at temperatures below about 66 degrees Fahrenheit. In temperate countries, cool weather, the draining of swamps, and the use of pesticides have made malaria outbreaks rare. Unfortunately, that could change with global warming, says environmental physicist Philippe Martin.
People think ...
