Climate change 'accelerating' brain infections, claims UK outlet the Telegraph

U.K. outlet the Telegraph recently published an article claiming that climate change is accelerating the advance of a Japanese brain infection due to increased mosquito breeding.

The journalist claims that the Japanese encephalitis virus that affects upwards of 68,000 people annually has seen an increase in infections because climate change is causing more monsoons, which is allowing for more stagnant water to be breeding grounds for mosquitoes that spread the disease in Asia.

The article reads, "JEV is becoming more common in northeast India as the region contends with intensifying monsoon seasons and storms – the fallout of climate change."

The article also blames a "rise in global temperatures" that has "shortened the life cycle of mosquitoes, experts say, which means the bugs breed at a faster rate."

But JEV isn't the only fallout from climate change, according to the author; dengue fever is also. Cases will "rise as climate change worsens," she writes, adding that "unplanned urbanisation, deforestation, rapid population movement, and climate change" are reasons why the illness will remain a threat come winter.

The author, who describes herself as an "independent environment journalist largely reporting on climate change, environment and wildlife," is a recipient of the Climate Tracker Fellowship, a grant program that pays young journalists to write about climate change. The program states that it helps journalists "develop a core thematic and journalistic understanding of the issues" and promises to "publish two stories in national media."

Nonprofit organization Climate Tracker's stated goal is paying and training young people to become climate journalists. "Support, train and incentivise better climate journalism globally," the website reads.

Some of the "core values" listed are of course "diversity" along with "equality" that promises equal pay for all employees, no matter the location. "All of our team members are paid the same, regardless of their location. So are all of our journalism fellows. are c [sic] We offer benefits that can be customised based on what our team members want. When one person does well, we all succeed," it explains.

The organization's founder Chris Wright, who says he has "worked on climate change" since around 2010, blames bushfires brought on by fossil fuel companies exacerbating the "climate crisis" for the burning of his family's farm.

Another article written by Wright in 2021, titled "2030 just became the new 2050," praises Joe Biden's climate platform for accelerating policy, stating that under the years of Donald Trump and Brazil's Jair Bolsonoro, a 2050 goal was a "far off horizon of hope, as we drift off into hopelessness."

In June 2020, Wright also authored the article "Why we must support #BlackLivesMatter as environmental journalists."