Evaluating the Effects of Habitat Loss on Animal Mental Health, with a Focus on Stress and Anxiety Disorders in Displaced Populations

Abstract

This paper researches into the critical role of global climatic change on human health, with particular reference to the increased global infectious disease issue, using Cholera, a waterborne disease, and dengue, a vector-borne one, as examples. The changes in climate change, such as increasing average temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and increasing extreme weather events, are directly modulating the transmission dynamics and increasing the geographical distribution of these diseases, making it a core problem for global health security. Vibrio cholerae is the cause of Cholera, which is very sensitive to increases in sea surface temperatures and shifts in coastal and inland rainfall, resulting in favorable conditions in which the bacteria thrive and pollute the human water resources. At the same time, dengue, one of the most significant mosquito-borne diseases, is spreading very fast due to the acceleration of the breeding cycle by warmer climate, the increase in the rate of biting, and the breeding prolongation of the Aedes vectors. Aside from climate change resulting in the loss of habitat for wildlife, it may also increase the risk of spreading infectious diseases by creating closer contact between wildlife and humans and disrupting ecosystems. As the animals are displaced from their normal habitat, they will experience increased stress and anxiety related to their inability to adapt and thus have compromised immune systems, which in turn reduce their ability to survive in their new environment. Migration between habitats creates additional opportunities for the transmission of diseases from animals to humans and thus represents an additional threat to public health. This project will employ an integrated assessment framework to compile available epidemiological data to allow for the determination of the risks of morbidity and mortality addresses associated with climate-related diseases in the various climatic areas. Results highlight that there is a disproportionately large and cascading risk in low- and middle-income regions, especially in Africa and Southeast Asia, because of insufficient infrastructure and increased climate vulnerability, and such outbreaks frequently co-occur. The paper also concludes with a strong recommendation that the world needs climate-conscious interdisciplinary interventions in public health, more effective surveillance with new technologies, and a concerted global policy response to this growing menace to human health.