Health Security At Risk: How Climate Change Spawns The Next Epidemic

 

Emerging diseases pose a rising threat as climate instability disrupts ecosystems and shifts wildlife habitats worldwide.

 

The accelerating climate crisis extends far beyond rising temperatures, severe droughts, and catastrophic floods. As natural ecosystems fragment, the intricate balance between humans, wildlife, and pathogens is breaking down, unleashing a heightened risk of novel infectious disease outbreaks.

 

This growing threat took centre stage at the Sustainability Expo 2026 during a panel session titled 'Prepare Before the Spread: When Natural Disasters Awaken Emerging Diseases', held on Saturday, 7 November.

 

Leading specialists across environmental science, public health, and virology gathered to examine how climate instability acts as a primary catalyst for global health emergencies and what nations must do to prepare.

 

Dr Sonthi Kochawat, a leading environmental and health analyst, warned that global warming has evolved into severe weather instability. Melting polar ice caps, prolonged droughts, forest fires, and unseasonal downpours are systematically destabilising ecosystems worldwide.

 

This environmental degradation creates direct pathways for disease transmission. Shifts in local climates force wildlife species to migrate or expand their territorial ranges.

 

Simultaneously, elevated temperatures accelerate the breeding cycles of disease vectors such as Aedes and Anopheles mosquitoes, introducing vector-borne illnesses into previously unaffected regions.

 

 

 

Furthermore, scientists are monitoring the thaw of global permafrost with growing concern, as micro-organisms and bacterial spores dormant for millennia risk re-entering the biosphere. Dr Sonthi pointed to Siberia anthrax outbreaks as a critical warning of how thawing frozen ground can reactivate dangerous pathogens.

 

The panel highlighted the 1998 Nipah virus outbreak in Malaysia as a textbook demonstration of how environmental destruction triggers public health crises.

 

Professor Yong Poovorawan, Head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University, detailed how climate, wildlife, and human agricultural activity intersected.

 

A severe El Nino event caused widespread forest fires and smog across Indonesia, destroying the natural habitats and wild fruit supplies of fruit bats. In search of food, these bats migrated to commercial agricultural zones and pig farms, dropping virus-contaminated, partially eaten fruit directly into livestock pens.

 

 

Domestic pigs contracted the Nipah virus through contaminated feed, allowing the pathogen to amplify within pig populations before jumping to farm workers.

 

The event resulted in over 100 human fatalities from severe encephalitis and respiratory distress, requiring the culling of approximately 1.2 million pigs to halt transmission and stabilise the sector.

 

Professor Yong emphasised that emerging diseases rarely occur in isolation, as they are fundamentally linked to habitat loss, agricultural encroachment, and increased contact between human populations and infected wildlife.

 

 

 

 

Addressing the forum, Dr Alisa Yanasan of WHO Thailand stressed that climate change must be categorised as a public health crisis rather than a purely environmental issue. Because human, animal, and environmental health are intrinsically linked, climate-driven disruptions cascade rapidly through healthcare systems.

 

Extreme heat poses immediate risks to vulnerable groups, including pregnant women, young children, the elderly, and individuals with pre-existing conditions.

 

Outdoor workers, such as delivery riders, traffic police, and construction labourers, face severe exposure to heat stress and heat stroke.

 

Natural disasters also frequently cause physical damage to hospitals or disrupt essential utility networks, severely restricting access to clinical care during crises. Emergency medical responders must navigate dangerous conditions to reach affected populations.

 

The World Health Organization highlighted that health readiness must extend beyond hospital treatment to embrace proactive disease surveillance, public education, and disaster-resilient medical infrastructure.

 

Reflecting on global pandemics throughout history, from the Black Death and Spanish Flu to COVID-19, Professor Yong noted that human society consistently adapts through scientific innovation. The primary advantage today lies in genomic diagnostics, as researchers can now decode viral genetic structures in near-real-time.

 

 

When an origin country sequences and publishes pathogen data online, global laboratories can immediately produce diagnostic kits without waiting for physical viral samples to cross borders.

 

However, technology alone is insufficient. Professor Yong underscored that transparent, rapid data sharing remains the cornerstone of outbreak management. Without immediate information exchange, nations cannot accurately assess risk profiles or deploy effective screening protocols.

 

He noted that extremely lethal pathogens rarely cause global pandemics because patients deteriorate too rapidly to travel and spread the virus. Instead, a far greater threat stems from engineered pathogens, particularly when combined with advanced biotechnologies and artificial intelligence.

 

The panel concluded with a unanimous call for integrated action across individual, municipal, and national levels before the next pathogen emerges.

 

 

Dr Alisa urged citizens to maintain personal physical health, stay updated on routine immunisations, and manage chronic conditions to reduce baseline susceptibility to severe infections.

 

Dr Sonthi recommended practical adaptations for extreme weather, including designated public cooling centres and mandatory safety protocols for outdoor labour during extreme heat events.

 

At the national level, governments must accelerate transitions to clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to target the root causes of ecosystem disruption.

 

Professor Yong advised the public to approach climate and biosecurity threats with calm, informed readiness rather than panic, leveraging verified scientific data to build community resilience.

 

Preventing future epidemics requires a fundamental shift in priority: protecting wild habitats, fortifying health infrastructure, and establishing real-time surveillance systems today is far more effective than attempting to contain a global crisis tomorrow.