Climate change may affect spread of malaria and more

Worldwide climate change could affect the spread of infectious diseases such as malaria, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has claimed.

Speaking at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Bali, Margaret Chan, director-general of the WHO, warned that changes to global temperatures could have unexpected effects on human health, Bloomberg reported.

In particular, she highlighted the potential for diseases associated with certain areas to spread elsewhere as their climate changes.

"What would happen if rising temperatures accelerate the lifecycle of parasites? What will happen if malaria spreads to new areas?'' Chan asked in a lecture, reported the website.

"The US doesn't have malaria. What if temperature continues to rise?" she added.

According to the WHO, rising temperatures have already directly or indirectly killed more than one million people worldwide since 2000, the Associated Press stated.

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