Posted by 
New research has found that climate change could be increasing antibiotic resistance in bacteria. A team of epidemiologists from Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital and the University of Toronto have found that higher local temperatures and population densities correspond with a higher degree of antibiotic resistance in common bacterial strains.
Previously, increase in resistance to common bacteria was thought to come from over-prescribing antibiotics. In 2016 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that approximately 30 percent of prescribed antibiotics are unnecessary. The researchers found that an increase of 18 degrees Fahrenheit is associated with increases of antibiotic-resistant strains of E. coli (4.2 percent), K. pneumoniae (2.2 percent), and S. aureus (3.6 percent).
The study pulled together a database of U.S. antibiotic resistance in E. coli, K. pneumoniae and S. aureus, pulling from hospital, laboratory and disease surveillance data documented between 2013 and 2015. It comprised more than 1.6 million bacterial specimens from 602 unique records across 223 facilities and 41 states.
Bacteria can become drug resistant when people take incorrect doses of antibiotics, or they are given out unnecessarily. Without antibiotics, caesarean sections, cancer treatments and hip replacements would become incredibly risky. Climate change could be compounding and accelerating an increase in antibiotic resistance, the future prospects could be significantly worse than previously thought.
An increase of 10,000 people per square mile was associated with three and six percent respective increases in antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative E. coli and K. pneumoniae. Population growth and increases in temperature and antibiotic resistance are three phenomena that are currently happening on this planet.
Climate change will contribute to ocean acidification, according to the National Ocean Service. This change can be attributed to higher levels of greenhouse gases emerging as a result of human activities. Climate change affects the ocean in a variety of ways.It can cause sea levels to rise and coral in the sea to be smothered. Climate change can also affect the ocean’s currents and cause ‘murky’ water conditions with reduced amounts of light, according to the National Ocean Service.
haleplushearty.org