Dengue fever is the most common mosquito-borne disease in the world, infecting 100 million new victims every year. In the 1950s, mosquito control efforts and public health campaigns drove this illness from the U.S. Now, it's back. Dengue has reappeared in Florida, Texas, and Hawaii, and it is spreading.
Although it's usually not fatal, there is no vaccine or cure. Sometimes called breakbone fever because of the extreme joint pain it causes, dengue also brings rashes, blistering fever, and sometimes bleeding, organ failure, and shock. A recent study of the illness concluded that "Dengue fever most likely will become a disease the United States must learn to live with as climate change creates opportunities for the disease to gain a foothold." Even more troubling, dengue fever is not alone.
Over the past several decades, infectious disease cases have risen in step with the temperature. Milder winters and wetter springs in many parts of the warming world have led to mosquito and tick population booms. These insects can be active during more months of the year, and in some areas, they are now able to survive where winter freezes used to kill them off. As they have spread, so have the diseases they carry, including Lyme disease, malaria, encephalitis, yellow fever, West Nile virus.
Which of the options below is the most effective conclusion to the essay?
When I was growing up, I could look forward to a healthier future than my parents had known. Dangerous diseases were being pushed out of the country or cured altogether. My children will not have the same hopeful outlook. The return of infectious diseases like dengue and malaria is proof that we can no longer view climate change as nothing more than an argument between scientists.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the mosquitoes that carry dengue, yellow fever, and other “tropical” diseases are migrating into the U.S. as the climate here warms. These diseases are also being brought from other countries by travelers and then transmitted to other people by insect bites and blood transfusions. Outbreaks are becoming more common, but there is still time to act.
Tropical diseases once eliminated from the U.S. are coming back. For example, dengue fever has reappeared in Florida, Texas, and Hawaii, and it is spreading. Other infectious disease cases have risen in step with the temperature. When public health specialists say that awful illness are something we “must learn to live with as climate change creates opportunities for the disease to gain a foothold," it is very worrisome.
In conclusion, we now have all the incentive we need to do something about global warming. Many people don’t give a hoot how high sea level might be in fifty years or what happens to polar bears, but everyone cares about turning yellow and bleeding out of their eyes.