Reconstruction of climatic patterns, disasters, and human epidemics for large parts of China from AD 1-1911 indicates that long periods of cold and dry conditions were associated with the prevalence of epidemics, likely a result of locust outbreaks and famines; however, the relationship between temperature and epidemics was inconsistent across short time scales, highlighting the scale-dependent impacts of climate change on disease prevalence, according to a study.
###
Article #17-06470: "Scale-dependent climatic drivers of human epidemics in ancient China," by Huidong Tian et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Nils Chr. Stenseth, University of Oslo, NORWAY; tel: +47-22-85-45-84/44-00; e-mail: <n.c.stenseth@ibv.uio.no>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences