By: Sadie Urtz
As we are all painfully aware, the health and well being of our planet has been spiralling downward. From climate change to the Willow Project, we have seen our planet take beating after beating, and not enough people care to protect it.
Recently, a new threat due to climate change has scientists worried for states bordering oceans. What is that new threat? Flesh-eating bacteria. Our health, and Earth’s health, are more connected than you may think.
Climate change is causing oceans to warm steadily in recent years. Warmer oceans means certain organisms can procreate faster than before. Scientists are predicting deadly infections from a bacteria called Vibrio vulnificus to increase in the next few decades.
The warm sea water is allowing this bacteria to thrive in waters further north than ever before. Thankfully, cases of this bacteria affecting people are scarce, but it is still important to think about it rising in coming years if we do nothing about climate change.
Two scientists from the University of East Anglia, in the UK, say that Vibrio vulnificus thrives when the temperature rises only the slightest bit. People can get infected when they are engaging in small, shallow bits of water, and if they have cuts or anything of that sort on their skin, the bacteria can enter the body. Even though infections are rare, they are deadly and expensive to treat. By the 2040’s we could see this bacteria in every east coast state.
This is not the only bacteria that thrives in warmer climates. We could be seeing many bacteria multiply rapidly as sea waters warm, and, as glaciers melt, we could be met with a slew of all new bacteria. Public health needs to be ready for changes, and well equipped to deal with new infections, to the best of the facility’s ability.
The center for disease control has been tracking the bacteria for thirty-ish years, and cases went from roughly ten a year to eighty. I think this bacteria is a great example for those who may not realize how intertwined we are with our planet. Our well beings rely on each other, and if we continue to let the Earth suffer, we will suffer too.