Millions could avoid deadly fever if world limits warming

[Judi Lynn]

by Lin Taylor | @linnytayls | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Monday, 28 May 2018 19:00 GMT

Study purports to be the first to show the health benefits of a cooler planet
By Lin Taylor

LONDON, May 28 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - More than three million cases of dengue fever, the world's fastest-spreading tropical disease, could be avoided annually if global warming is capped at 1.5C, said a study that purports to be the first to show the health benefits of a cooler planet.

The mosquito-borne viral infection causes flu-like symptoms and can be fatal if it develops into severe haemorrhagic form. The annual number of cases has increased 30-fold in the last 50 years, says the World Health Organization (WHO).

Using computer models, researchers from the University of East Anglia in Britain found that capping warming at 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) could cut annual dengue cases in Latin America and the Caribbean by up to 2.8 million by the end of the century.

A further half a million cases could be prevented if the rise in global temperatures is kept down to 1.5C, the report said, with parts of South America most likely to benefit.

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http://news.trust.org/item/20180528190024-ioncb