A rare and dangerous fungal infection has been spreading across the United States in recent years — and a primary theory is that climate change is driving its rapid rise.
Scientists like me worry that climate change and ecosystem destruction may be creating opportunities for fungal pathogens to grow more infectious, spread over larger distances and reach more people.
Climate change seems to be making it easier for pathogens to pose risks to our health. A recent entrant is Candida auris, an emerging fungus that was first reported in the US in 2016.
The pathogens cause infections that kill millions of people each year and often go undiagnosed. Even when identified, a growing number of infections is resistant to the current crop of drugs.
