There is no any direct connection between climate change and the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Temperature is definitely a factor in replication and transmission of the virus. But linking with climate change is difficult

No

Thanks Stuart E. Hamilton and Abhijit Mitra

Although there is no direct evidence that climate change is influencing the spread of COVID-19, indirectly the climate change affects other species on Earth and that matters to our health and our risk for infections. For instance, increasing temperature affects animals in the land and in the sea. There are high possibilities that animals are coming into contact with other animals they normally wouldn’t, and that creates an opportunity for pathogens to get into new hosts. Other indirect climate causes (deforestation, loss of habitat, birds' food crisis) may make pandemic obvious.

There is no any direct connection between climate change and the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus.

No relation

Yes! Higher temperatures may lead to faster and wider spread of the virus.

There is no evidence of a direct connection between climate change and the emergence or transmission of COVID-19 disease.

Thanks all. I think it is too early to say disconnection between climate change and the transmission of coronavirus. If we are sure about this disconnection, it's better to provide references. Here are some resources on how climate change and the transmission of coronavirus are inter-linked. We, as a researcher, need to note that denials love this disconnection.

How our responses to climate change and the coronavirus are linked: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/climate-change-coronavirus-linked/

COVID-19’s Long-Term Effects on Climate Change—For Better or Worse: https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2020/06/25/covid-19-impacts-climate-change/

The climate and COVID-19: a convergence of crises: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-and-the-climate-a-convergence-of-crises/

What is the effect of COVID-19 on Climate Change? https://www.oneyoungworld.com/blog/what-effect-covid-19-climate-change

Quand

Salut Hermida, comment ca va? What is your question? Coming back to climate change, I see the outbreak of the pandemic started in November, towards winter time in China. It was coming after a backdrop of poor air quality which had forced the government to regulate cars. In addition, the new variant in South Africa came when rainfall was about to start. This means it is related to climate change.

Thanks Kiprotich Kiptum for your comment. I also think Covid-19 is indirectly connected with climate change, and if we are not taking our responsibilities to build climate change resilience, there may be more pandemic yet to come.

Dear all,

Although climate changes all the time, it's impossible to measure global change by the present science (e.g, insufficient observations and inability of numerical models, etc). In the same way, the regional changes are always there. However, we don't find any concrete trend. Hence, when we don't have clear evidence of the climate change, one should not connect anything (e.g., spread of the virus, etc) with climate change.

No, the Coronavirus is not connected with climate change or anything like that. The connection of the Covid virus is in Wuhan, China where they allowed this pandemic to spread throughout the world.

Luis Miguel Constantino Thanks for your comment. Do you have an authentic academic reference for your argument instead of popular conspiracy theory? Thanks

Here are some resources on how climate change (air populations) and virus transmission:

• Exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 mortality in the United States (Harvard University, preprint, 2019). This study found that a small increase in long-term exposure to PM2.5 leads to a large increase in COVID-19 death rate.
• Measuring the impact of air pollution on respiratory infection risk in China (Environmental Pollution, 2018). This study found that worse air quality in China may increase transmission of infections that cause influenza-like illnesses.
• The association between respiratory infection and air pollution in the setting of air quality policy and economic change (Annals of the American Thoracic Society, 2019). A study of nearly 500,000 New York residents found that higher particulate matter air pollution levels increased the chances of hospitalization for pneumonia and emergency deparment visits, especially for influenza.
• Airborne transmission may have played a role in the spread of 2015 highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks in the United States (Scientific Reports, 2019). Researchers have found that several viruses, including adenovirus and influenza virus, can be carried on air particles. This recent paper finds that particulate matter likely contributed to the spread of the 2015 avian influenza.
• Relationship between ambient air pollution and daily mortality of SARS in Beijing (Biomedical and Environmental Sciences, 2005). During the SARS epidemic in 2003, this study found that increases in particulate matter air pollution increased risks of dying from the disease. SARS is a coronavirus, like COVID-19.

What climate change actions can (or should) we take to prevent future outbreaks? Some of my thoughts:

1. We as researchers may need to decolonize our narrow ways of understanding the pandemic as a separate entity; rather than it is a part of one of the climate change crises.

2. We also need to take responsibility for climate action to prevent the next pandemic. For example, preventing deforestation—a root cause of climate change—can help stem biodiversity loss and slow animal migrations that can increase infectious disease risk. The recent Ebola epidemic in West Africa probably occurred in part because bats, which carried the disease, had been forced to move into new habitats because they had cut the forests they used to live in down to grow palm oil trees.

3. Rebuilding community-led food security, our agricultural practices.

4. Deconstruct the corporate food system. Many corporate companies only see the business more times than health and environmental issues, particularly those who solely rely on raising tens of millions of animals in close quarters, create a hub for transmissions between animals and spillover into human populations.

5. Reducing air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas also helps keep our lungs healthy, protecting us from respiratory infections like coronavirus.

6. Include traditional knowledge and practice in the food system, building community capacity to develop a community-led food system.

7. We need to take individual and collective responsibilities to decrease greenhouse gas emissions drastically. Generating electricity from low-carbon energy sources like wind and solar decreases harmful air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, and carbon dioxide that lead to more heart attacks and stroke and obesity, diabetes, and premature deaths that put further strains on our health care systems

Dear Ranjan, you made a very strong argument wit air pollution which is highly connected to climate change and extreme events that increas the air pollution burden. On this subject exist heaps of papers. Here is one:

"Impacts of climate change on future air quality and human health in China" https://www.pnas.org/content/116/35/17193

All the best

Jan

Another very strong connection between climate change and the transmission of diseases is biodiversity loss which is and will be greatly accelerated by climate change.

This is a quite prominent study into the subject, from which the whole research cluster can be researched:

diseases" Article Impacts of biodiversity on the emergence and transmission of...

All the best

Jan

Another important avenue of how climate change, biodiversity, and the transmission of diseases like Covid is the quite simple connection between overall ecosystem health and the health of animal populations following the simple logic of the more unhealthy a population is, the more diseases they can transmit - the same will be true for bat populations...

Here is one study result on bee populations:

Article Pollinator community species richness dilutes prevalence of ...

Also on this subject exist heaps of studies...

All the best

Jan

The next connection between climate change and the rise of pandemics is that the livelihoods of countless people will be destroyed which often results in an increasing loss of ecosystems and of populations moving into the remaining wilderness which leads also to more encounters of humans with wild animal populations. For example farmers or fishers that lost their incomes and start to go into the wilds to hunt for wild animals (e.g. the economy of extinction). And the next connection will be that while the economic impacts of climate change will increase our overall health will further deteriorate which will lead to more severe cases of a given illness - this is already taking place in many countries around the world - take the Philippines and the number of devastating hurricanes they had which had for sure an effect on their health system. Or take the floodings in Asia this year - for sure also here an impact on Covid infections and prevention measures in several ways...

The next interesting finding of how viruses and biodiversity are connected and thereby a connection with climate change arises:

Article Agricultural land use disrupts biodiversity mediation of vir...

Actually, the question is not how climate change is connected to the spread of a pandemic but if there exist any mechanisms that is not connected to the effects of climate warming - and be it secondary effects!

All the best

Jan

p.s. just wanted to make sure that there is and will be not one connection to climate change and the rise of pandemics and their transmissions but countless...

Ah and the next connection with covid and climate heating is the effect on water scarcity, sanitary measures, water wars, and the overall effect on the emergence of conflicts that all have one in common: disease control measures become impossible! Here the numbers of scientific papers go into the thousands!

Current examples: The conflicts in Syria and Darfur and their connections to droughts! - there exist several scientific papers on this topic.

Here some other examples I had at hand:

"Assessing the relative contribution of economic, political and environmental factors on past conflict and the displacement of people in East Africa"

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-018-0096-6

"The consequences of relocating in response to drought: human mobility and conflict in contemporary Kenya"

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aad8cc/meta

"Food scarcity and state vulnerability: Unpacking the link between climate variability and violent unrest"

Article Food scarcity and state vulnerability: Unpacking the link be...

All the best

Jan

Many thanks, Jan Umsonst for all of your comments and connections between climate change and virus transmission. I also like all of your resources, going to explore them soon. Thanks for your time, appreciated.

Dear Ranjan Datta,

I think the issue you address is very important for humanity. Therefore i like to help. Here are some papers of which some have a direct relevance and others show indirect connections. It's from a text i wrote during the beginning of the pandemic. So it could be used for a nice introduction covering general aspects and links with the issue of the rise of pandemics in general because of environmental destruction and thereby with climate change which affects all aspects of biodiversity loss. Also if you are interested, i have collected many papers through the years on the links of climate change and biodiversity loss, and the rate of species extinction. One of the main issues is that while climate change forces humans into the wilds for economic reasons it pushes wild animals out of the wild into human settlements. In one example wild animals infected pigs with a new virus, which then transmitted it to humans (Nipah virus among pig-farmers). In this study, the issue is described. Sorry for my sloppy writing but it's the resources that count ;)

On the connections of livestock operations and respiratory health:

2: “Environmental exposure to confined animal feeding operations and respiratory health of neighboring residents"; Radon, Katja; Schulze, Anja; Ehrenstein, Vera; van Strien, Rob T.; Praml, Georg; Nowak, Dennis; Epidemiology, vol. 18, 2007; DOI: 10.1097/01.ede.0000259966.62137.84; online: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352771415300136#bb0470 (04.04.2020)

3: "Effects on Pulmonary Health of Neighboring Residents of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations: Exposure Assessed Using Optimized Estimation Technique"; Anja Schulze, Horst Römmelt, Vera Ehrenstein, Rob van Strien, Georg Praml, Helmut Küchenhoff, Dennis Nowak, Katja Radon; Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, vol. 66, 2011; DOI: 10.1080/19338244.2010.539635; online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19338244.2010.539635 (04.04.2020)

4: "Human–livestock contacts and their relationship to transmission of zoonotic pathogens, a systematic review of literature"; Gijs Klous, Anke Huss, Dick J. J. Heederik, Roel A. Coutinho; One Health, vol. 2, 2016; DOI: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2016.03.001; online: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352771415300136#bb0475 (04.04.2020)

Here on infectious diseases in general and some specific cases:

5: "Global rise in human infectious disease outbreaks"; Katherine F. Smith, Michael Goldberg, Samantha Rosenthal, Lynn Carlson, Jane Chen, Cici Chen, Sohini Ramachandran; Journal of the Royal Society Interface, vol. 11, 2014; DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2014.0950; online: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2014.0950 (04.04.2020)

6: "A humanitarian response to the West African Ebola virus disease outbreak"; Linda M. Mobula, Jolene H. Nakao, Sonia Walia, Justin Pendarvis, Peter Morris, David Townes; Journal of International Humanitarian Action, vol 3, 2018; DOI: https://jhumanitarianaction.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41018-018-0039-2 (04.04.2020)

7: "Zoonotic disease: emerging public health threats in the Region"; World Health Organisation; online: http://www.emro.who.int/fr/about-who/rc61/zoonotic-diseases.html (04.04.2020)

8: "Fatal encephalitis due to Nipah virus among pig-farmers in Malaysia"; Chua KB1, Goh KJ, Wong KT, Kamarulzaman A, Tan PS, Ksiazek TG, Zaki SR, Paul G, Lam SK, Tan CT; Lancet, vol. 354, 1999; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(99)04299-3; online: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10520635 (04.04.2020)

9: "Linking Deforestation to Malaria in the Amazon: Characterization of the Breeding Habitat of the Principal Malaria Vector, Anopheles darlingi"; Amy Y. Vittor, William Pan, Robert H. Gilman, James Tielsch, Gregory Glass, Tim Shields, Wagner Sánchez-Lozano, Viviana V. Pinedo, Erit Salas-Cobos, Silvia Flores, and Jonathan A. Patz; The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, vol. 81, 2009; PMID: 19556558; online: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3757555/ (04.04.2020)

Forest loss and the transmision of diseases:

10: "Brazil burning! What is the potential impact of the Amazon wildfires on vector-borne and zoonotic emerging diseases? - A statement from an international experts meeting"; D. Katterine Bonilla-Aldana, José Antonio Suárez, Carlos Franco-Paredes, Stalin Vilcarromero, Salim Mattar, Jorge E. Gómez-Marín, Wilmer E. Villamil-Gómez, Julián Ruíz-Sáenz, Jaime A. Cardona-Ospina, Samuel E. Idarraga-Bedoya, Juan Javier García-Bustos, Erika V. Jimenez-Posada, Alfonso J. Rodríguez-Morales; Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, vol. 31, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2019.101474; online: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1477893919301589?via%3Dihub (04.04.2020)

11: "Understanding the cryptic nature of Lassa fever in West Africa"; Rory Gibb, Lina M. Moses, David W. Redding, Kate E. Jonesa; Pathogens and Global Health, vol. 111, 2017; DOI: 10.1080/20477724.2017.1369643; online: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5694855/ (04.04.2020)

12: "Amazon deforestation drives malaria transmission, and malaria burden reduces forest clearing"; Andrew J. MacDonald, Erin A. Mordecai; PNAS, vol. 116, 2019; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1905315116; https://www.pnas.org/content/116/44/22212.short (04.04.2020)

13: "Malaria, key facts"; World Health Organization, 2020; online: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria (04.04.2020)

And here some connections with climate change and viruses:

14: "Climate change and human health - Risks and Responses"; World Health Organization, 2003; online: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/42742/924156248X_eng.pdf (04.04.2020)

15: "Impact of climate change on human infectious diseases: Empirical evidence and human adaptation"; Xiaoxu Wu, Yongmei Lu, Sen Zhou, Lifan Chen, Bing Xu; Environment International, vol. 86, 2016; DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2015.09.007; online: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412015300489 (04.04.2020)

16: "Thirty-thousand-year-old distant relative of giant icosahedral DNA viruses with a pandoravirus morphology"; Matthieu Legendre, Julia Bartoli, Lyubov Shmakova, Sandra Jeudy, Karine Labadie, Annie Adrait, Magali Lescot, Olivier Poirot, Lionel Bertaux, Christophe Bruley, Yohann Couté, Elizaveta Rivkina, Chantal Abergel, Jean-Michel Claverie; PNAS, vol. 18, 2014; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1320670111; online: https://www.pnas.org/content/111/11/4274 (04.04.2020)

17: "Thawing of permafrost may disturb historic cattle burial grounds in East Siberia"; Boris A. Revich, Marina A. Podolnaya; Global Healt Action, vol. 4, 2011; DOI: 10.3402/gha.v4i0.8482; online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/gha.v4i0.8482 (04.04.2020)

18: "The Deadliest Flu: The Complete Story of the Discovery and Reconstruction of the 1918 Pandemic Virus"; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018; online: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/reconstruction-1918-virus.html (04.04.2020)

Here one of the most important issues of climate change - the adaption of fungi on our body temperature because of higher temperatures which is in itself a highly disturbing development:

19: "On the Emergence of Candida auris: Climate Change, Azoles, Swamps, and Birds"; Arturo Casadevall, Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis, Vincent Robert; mBio, vol. 10, 2019; DOI: 10.1128/mBio.01397-19; online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334636713_On_the_Emergence_of_Candida_auris_Climate_Change_Azoles_Swamps_and_Birds (04.04.2020)

20: "Candida auris (C. auris) facts"; Medicine Net, 2020; online: https://www.medicinenet.com/candida_auris_c_auris/article.htm#candida_auris_c_auris_facts (04.04.2020)

21: "The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2"; Kristian G. Andersen, Andrew Rambaut, W. Ian Lipkin, Edward C. Holmes, Robert F. Garry; Nature Medicine, vol. 26, 2020; DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-0820-9; online: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9 (04.25.2020)

Here a warning to humanity of experts on microorganisms and climate change - always a good resource when the issue is adressed:

22: "Scientists’ warning to humanity: microorganisms and climate change"; Ricardo Cavicchioli, William J. Ripple, Kenneth N. Timmis, Farooq Azam, Lars R. Bakken, Matthew Baylis, Michael J. Behrenfeld, Antje Boetius, Philip W. Boyd, Aimée T. Classen, Thomas W. Crowther, Roberto Danovaro, Christine M. Foreman, Jef Huisman, David A. Hutchins, Janet K. Jansson, David M. Karl, Britt Koskella, David B. Mark Welch, Jennifer B. H. Martiny, Mary Ann Moran, Victoria J. Orphan, David S. Reay, Justin V. Remais, Virginia I. Rich, Brajesh K. Singh, Lisa Y. Stein, Frank J. Stewart, Matthew B. Sullivan, Madeleine J. H. van Oppen, Scott C. Weaver, Eric A. Webb, Nicole S. Webster; Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 17, 2019; DOI: 10.1038/s41579-019-0222-5; online: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-019-0222-5 (04.04.2020)

Here some important open-source satellite images which are an impressive of extreme events in 2020 and the intensification of the pandemic through climate change:

Nasa picture of the floods in Asia in 2020 - most impressive!

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/147006/excessive-monsoon-rains-flood-asia

Wildfires in the US and the smoke which for sure affected respiratory health and therefore increased the covid mortality:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/noaa-nasa-suomi-npp-captures-fires-and-aerosols-across-america

Here an article of scientific America which i only saved because there will be also a study on this subject:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/californias-mega-fires-have-arrived-30-years-early/

and last a nice study of how climatic extremes worsened the spanish flu:

Article The Impact of a Six-Year Climate Anomaly on the "Spanish Flu...

And do not worry i will stop now - but there exist so many connections with climate change...

All the best

Jan

Many thanks Jan Umsonst for additional resources, I will explore these soon. Appreciated.

"How likely are we to see the infectious disease spread as a result of climate change?"

There is a scale issue here; climate change increases the probability of new disease appearance, among other things because of changes in species habitat. However, it is difficult to make a direct link in the current Covid-19 spread.

"How are the communities most at-risk, and how and why both COVID-19 and climate change harms them?" There is a relation in terms of vulnerabilities; communities affected, for example, by climatic changes such as drought, and related malnutrition, are also more vulnerable to disease.