Climate Change And The Rise And Spread Of Pathogens The Infectious Science podcast

Content provided by Galveston National Laboratory. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Galveston National Laboratory or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

The Infectious Science Podcast »
Climate Change and the Rise and Spread of Pathogens

3d ago 55:34

MP3•Episode home

Send us a text

The climate isn’t just warming—it’s reorganizing the rules of biology. We explore how rising temperatures, deforestation, wildfire smoke, and thawing permafrost are reshaping the risk landscape for malaria parasites, heat-trained fungi, spillover-prone viruses, and resilient bacteria. From Kenyan highlands that became friendlier to Anopheles mosquitoes, to urban heat islands that may condition fungi to tolerate our body temperature, to the sobering lesson of Siberia’s anthrax outbreak after unusual warmth, we connect data points to the lived reality of health systems on the front lines.
We dive into malaria’s life cycle and why vector capacity accelerates in warmer, deforested microclimates. We examine fungal threats, including how wildfire smoke can disperse spores, and why limited antifungal options raise the stakes. On viruses, we unpack Ebola’s reservoir ecology, the role of habitat loss and food insecurity in human–animal interfaces, and how language and stigma can undermine outbreak response. Finally, we look at bacterial risks within permafrost feedback loops and across water and food systems, where floods, droughts, and soil microbiome shifts threaten safety and yields.
Throughout, we keep solutions in focus: protecting forests and wetlands, cutting fossil fuels and air pollution, building climate-smart surveillance and diagnostics, and communicating with dignity so communities participate in prevention. Climate action is infection prevention—and it starts now. If this conversation sparked new questions or ideas, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review to help more people find the show. What solutions can you enact in your life to face the rising threat?

Thanks for listening to the Infectious Science Podcast. Be sure to visit infectiousscience.org to join the conversation, access the show notes, and don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to receive our free materials.

We hope you enjoyed this new episode of Infectious Science, and if you did, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Please share this episode with others who may be interested in this topic!

Also, please don’t hesitate to ask questions or tell us which topics you want us to cover in future episodes. To get in touch, drop us a line in the comment section or send us a message on social media.
Instagram @Infectscipod
Facebook Infectious Science Podcast
See you next time for a new episode!

Chapters

1. Welcome Back And Life Updates (00:00:00)

2. Setting The Stage: Anthropocene And Solutions (00:04:58)

3. Framing The Scope And Complexity (00:10:49)

4. Malaria Basics And Climate Links (00:10:50)

5. Deforestation, Warming, And Vector Shifts (00:16:14)

6. Human Behavior, Ticks, And Vector Movement (00:20:46)

7. Fungal Threats In A Warming World (00:22:38)

8. Smoke, Spores, And Urban Heat Islands (00:31:10)

9. Ebola, Reservoirs, And Land Use Change (00:37:54)

10. Language, Stigma, And Public Health (00:46:18)

11. Permafrost, Bacteria, And Feedback Loops (00:51:07)

27 episodes

#Science #Fitness #Biology #Medicine #Infectious Dieases #Viruses #Zoonoses #Bacteria #Environment #Podcasting Education #Galveston National Laboratory #Health and Well-Being #Animation #Epidemics