Effects of Climate Change on Animal Health and Diseases

Climate change and global warming now being accepted facts have affected all the ecosystems and will do so if left uncontrolled. Impacts on some components have gained more attention while others have been neglected. Animals belong to latter. Even among the aspects relating to impacts of climate change on animals, production related impacts have gained attention when the impacts on health in general and on infectious diseases in particular are neglected. Despite not being studied in depth, it can be assumed that as in the case of humans, climate change, in particular global warming, is likely to greatly affect the health of animals, both directly and indirectly. Direct effects include temperature-related illness and death, and the morbidity of animals during extreme weather events. Indirect impacts follow more intricate pathways and include those deriving from the attempt of animals to adapt to thermal environment or from the influence of climate on microbial populations, distribution of vector-borne diseases, host resistance to infectious agents, feed and water shortages, or food-borne diseases. Infectious diseases especially vector-borne diseases and diseases having a stage in the environment are likely to be more affected by climate change than other diseases, but may vary depending on different factors. There are in general many factors operating, and considerably more work is needed on disease dynamics and how these may adapt to a changing climate. These things make impact assessment of animal diseases (in developing countries) particularly challenging. By assessing the risk of potential disease through the identification of potential pathogens and routes of disease spread, can generate forecasts of disease risk areas and implement surveillance efforts to monitor spread and plan intervention efforts in order to reduce the risk of animal disease. From the years 1906 to 2005, global average temperature has warmed by 0.74°C, and since 1961, sea level has risen on average by approximately 2 mm per year. Arctic sea ice extent has declined by 7.4% per decade and snow cover and glaciers have diminished in both hemispheres. The rate of change in climate is faster now than in any period in the last 1000 years. According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in 90 years, average global temperatures will increase between 1.8°C and 4.0°C and sea level will rise between 18 and 59 cm. Extremes of the hydrologic cycle (e.g, floods and droughts) are also expected to accompany global warming trends.