Question

Geography

Explain how weather and urbanization are linked to the spread of zoonotic diseases. Discuss at least four methods.

by citing examples

min 200 words

Answer 1

Urbanization we know is a process in which rural population migrates in large numbers in to the cities in order to avail better facilities such as higher education, growth in career which leads to an overall improvement in financial status as well as a better lifestyle.But what remains a cause of concern is the fact that urbanization is taking place at such high pace and the question is -are we ready to accomodate the increasing population in to cities,especially in Asia and Africa where rate of urbanization is soaring high and more than half of the population are expected to settle in cities in the near future.

Unplanned urbanization comes with the new set of problems such as poor housing facilities, bad traffic management, drainage problems, air pollution etc and when these are coupled with extreme weather condition such as flooding,heavy rainfall and warm temperatures in summer.With elevated temperatures the chances of infectious diseases increases because high temperatures offer favorable conditions for the spread of vector-borne diseases.Another big issue that most of the developing cities face is that of poor drainage which allows water to remain stagnant and these act as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and led to many people becoming victims of dengue.In addition to these rodent population increases significantly which also led to the spread of Hanta virus in United States in 1993.Hence, urbanization combined with weather related condition can aid in spreading of these infectious diseases in many ways and be detrimental to human health and gives us sufficient reasons to devise effective strategies so that urbanization takes place in a planned and controlled manner.