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Using Generative Art to Convey Past and Future Climate Transitions

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Plague and climate: scales matter.

Tamara Ben-Ari¹, Tamara Ben Ari, Simon Neerinckx

¹Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

|September 28, 2011

Summary

Climate significantly impacts plague dynamics by affecting bacteria, hosts, and vectors. Understanding these climate-plague interactions is crucial for predicting and managing this reemerging zoonotic disease.

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Epidemiology
Climate Science

Background:

Plague, caused by *Yersinia pestis*, is endemic in wild rodent populations globally.
Climate influences bacteria, hosts, and vectors, impacting plague's geographic and temporal variability.
Plague is a reemerging zoonotic threat to human populations worldwide.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the effects of climate variables on plague hosts and vectors.
To analyze climate influences on the plague system across various scales.
To discuss the validity of upscaled processes in explaining large-scale plague patterns.

Main Methods:

Literature review of studies on climate effects on plague.
Analysis of research from individual/population scales to the entire plague system.
Examination of scale-dependent and scale-independent mechanisms in plague ecology.

Main Results:

Climate variables demonstrably affect plague hosts and vectors at multiple ecological scales.
Upscaling small-scale processes is commonly used to explain large-scale plague patterns.
Recent research indicates limitations to the assumption of scale-independent mechanisms.

Conclusions:

Climate is a critical driver of plague system dynamics.
Further research is needed to refine our understanding of scale-dependent climate impacts on plague.
Accurate prediction and management of plague require integrated climate-ecological approaches.