Climate change may make parts of West and Central Africa too hot for malaria mosquitoes while shifting risk elsewhere

New Scientist posted on Aug. 2 that global warming may make it too hot for malaria-carrying mosquitoes to survive in parts of West and Central Africa while shifting the risk to less affected areas. The post links to an article describing how climate change could eliminate malaria from some regions. The article says rising temperatures may exceed the thermal limits of the mosquitoes that transmit the disease. At the same time the changing climate could expand suitable habitat for the vectors into areas that currently have lower malaria burdens. The findings highlight a geographic redistribution of disease risk rather than a simple reduction.