When we consider the future effects of climate change in the United States, we sometimes think super-hurricanes, intense wildfires and a cinematic dystopia [3] featuring robotic Haley Joel Osment racing around flooded Manhattan. However, we may want to put the scuba-lessons aside and consider a lesser-known threat from rising temperatures and erratic weather. Experts note that climate change may also be impacting certain environmentally sensitive diseases, and not in a way that will have us breathing easier.

Just how are rising water-levels and steamier temperatures playing with the planet’s pathogens? As the Environmental Protection Agency notes [4], disease-causing agents are passed on through food, water and animals such as ‘deer, birds, mice and insects.