E. Coli and Climate Change

On Friday November 23, 2018, the Trump administration released a 1,000 word report on the issue of climate change. The report comes in the wake of the deadly California wildfire outbreak, and the recall of romaine lettuce everywhere. Although President Trump still does not acknowledge climate change, and continues to believe it’s a hoax, these breaking news headlines beg to differ.

Days before the initial climate change report the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, had issued a warning on consuming romaine lettuce. The CDC urged consumers, and restaurants to not eat or sell any more romaine lettuce as it investigates a series of E. Coli outbreaks.

E. Coli, found in human stomachs and in animal guts, is a bacteria that can cause severe food poisoning. According to recent findings exposure to E. Coli is becoming increasingly common. Researchers believe that climate change is ultimately the cause for E. Coli outbreaks. A professor at the University of Guelph believes that the E. Coli bacteria is learning to adapt to climate change. Climate change will more than likely create genetic changes in bacteria that could help the pathogens survive in soil.

The recent outbreak of E. Coli has caused grocery stores throughout Western Pennsylvania to remove romaine lettuce from the shelves. The lettuce is believed to be tainted in the U.S and Canada.

If 1,000 pages of evidence wasn’t enough to convince people of the realness of climate change the new findings on the E. Coli disease should be enough to convince doubters of climate change that climate change is a real and current issue.

6 Comments Add yours

  1. tabitha.weaver says:

    Climate change is truly having such an impact all over the globe. Now that people are seeing more and more issues arise instead of simply hearing about them, I hope the impact is enough for our society to work together to fix this problem.

  2. callie.oliver says:

    What are the reasons that contribute to e.coli being more common?

  3. anna.dacierno says:

    This an important post. So many people fail to realize climate change’s relationship to bacterias and other contaminations.

  4. roman.black says:

    Why does it not surprise me that Trump doesn’t believe in climate change?

    1. callie.oliver says:

      It’s really unusual for a president to discredit something with so much evidence.

  5. holly.taylor says:

    I think you bring up a vital point that people seem to leave out of the discussion of climate change- which is how this is going to impact human health. Climate change is not only going to introduce new diseases, but make existing ones worse which is the case of E.Coli.

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