Professor and Scott Presidential Chair James W. Hurrell publishes on the future of mosquito-borne dengue transmission under climate change

CSU Professor and Scott Presidential Chair in Environmental Science and Engineering Jim Hurrell co-authored a recently published study with researchers from Oxford University, the University of Warwick, and the UK Health Security Agency examining the future of mosquito-borne dengue transmission under climate change. The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Biological Sciences – Ecology. The author team found that suitable conditions for transmission could arise sooner than expected under climate change alone in some regions because of natural climate variability.

The geographical range of infectious disease vectors (like mosquitoes) is expanding under climate change. Hurrell and his colleagues, however, were interested in quantifying the uncertainty in future dengue projections due to natural variations in climate, which could either augment or counteract climate change signals regionally. They found that internal climate variability is a major source of uncertainty in dengue projections decades into the future. Their study also highlights the need to implement rigorous vector and pathogen surveillance programmes, in addition to developing outbreak response plans.

Find the PNAS publication at Climate variability amplifies the need for vector-borne disease outbreak preparedness | PNAS.