Warming Oceans Spread Disease

Bacteria thrive in warm temperatures. If the environment is freezing or boiling, however, bacteria will die. European scientists have conducted research since 1998 on the oceans’ warming and its bacteria.

According to a Brussels newspaper, “The warming of the world’s oceans can cause serious illness and may cost millions of euros in health care.” In the ocean water, the bacteria Vibrio genus is growing due to the warming. Vibrio genus can cause such things as food poisoning, gastroenteritis, septicemia, and cholera.

The oceans’ warming is dangerous to Europe’s health care system because it will be very costly to help people that have consumed contaminated seafood and waterborne pathogens.

Furthermore, the problems associated with the warming ocean extend beyond growing bacteria. There is also melting ice, rising sea levels, decreasing fish population, coastal erosion, and global warming, along with other issues.

In the big picture, a lot of these issues are already happening. Oceans have been warming, and the hazards will worsen.

These are facts and have been documented over time. For example, the Vibrios in the North Sea increased with the temperature from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Any thoughts on this? If you are in Europe, are you going to avoid such things as eating seafood or swimming in the ocean? Can anything be done about ocean warming?

by EP