Disease outbreaks from South America to Europe have been worsened by rising global temperatures, experts say

Surging cases of yellow fever and dengue in South America highlight the growing assault on people’s health from the climate crisis, with infectious diseases spread by mosquitoes and deadly heat also now pushing into temperate regions such as Europe, experts have warned at the Cop30 climate summit.

There have been 356 cases of yellow fever in South America and 152 deaths so far this year, largely in the Amazon region, according to Pan American Health Organization figures. Apart from a large spike in 2017 and 2018, this is the largest number of yellow fever cases for any year in the continent, bar one, since 1960.

In this week’s newsletter: Fear of retribution from the unpredictable president has left climate summit negotiators feeling nervous and vulnerable

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Under Donald Trump, America has not only jettisoned any effort to deal with the climate crisis, but has also attempted to stymie moves by other nations to shift to cleaner forms of energy, such as solar and wind.

The climate crisis is “the greatest con job perpetrated by the world”, Trump told the UN in September, urging other governments to stick to oil and gas (preferably drilled in the US, of course) and ditch the “scam” of renewable energy.

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The temperature at Cop30: Trump’s absence better than a US wrecking ball | Oliver Milman