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Post by marchesarosa on Jun 6, 2012 10:45:19 GMT 1
by Indur M. Goklany ROTAVIRUS Buried in a story on the effects of climatic variables on rotavirus, which apparently kills half a million children annually, is the following quote: The incidence of rotavirus throughout Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka was higher during the coldest, driest months of the year — from December to March–the study indicated. Increases in temperature and precipitation in other parts of the year resulted in lower levels of the virus. Patterns were consistent across the geographical regions, though the fluctuations varied in intensity. According to the CDC: Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea among children. Prior the introduction of rotavirus vaccines in the United Sates in 2006, rotavirus resulted in the hospitalization of approximately 55,000 U.S. children each year. Globally, rotavirus is estimated to cause 527,000 deaths in children annually. The incubation period for rotavirus disease is approximately 2 days. The disease is characterized by vomiting and watery diarrhea for 3 to 8 days, and fever and abdominal pain occur frequently. Immunity after infection is incomplete, but repeat infections tend to be less severe than the original infection. For some context, total US deaths from all causes is 2.4 million annually. So half a million deaths is huge. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531200609.htm
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Post by marchesarosa on Oct 22, 2012 13:04:53 GMT 1
Longer growing season and increase in the cultivable area in the Northern Hemisphere (where most of the planet's landmass is located)? Improved plant productivity due to the fertilising effect of more CO2? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_productionOn the other hand if the world were cooling all those benefits go into reverse.
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