The Gazette: Climate change doesn't have to cause more malaria

Fears climate change might lead to deadly malaria outbreaks and an expansion of the global range of the mosquito-borne disease are overblown, according to a new study released yesterday. The research, published in the journal Nature, casts doubt on the common belief that rising global temperatures will cause the tropical disease to spread into more temperate regions and become more common in areas where malaria is already prevalent… Lea Berrang Ford, an epidemiologist at McGill University, said the study's findings might prove correct, but it takes an optimistic view of international development. "If you believe that conditions in places where malaria is a problem are getting better, then I agree, climate change might not have that big an effect," she said. "But a pessimist might ask, are things getting better?"