El Nino has been blamed for floods, droughts, and unusual weather, but it may be responsible for triggering something far more deadly. Recent research indicates that climatic events, such as El Nino, may spur epidemics of cholera, an often-fatal infectious disease.
Cholera is an epidemic disease characterized by watery diarrhea, vomiting, and sudden collapse.
The origin of cholera has been difficult for researchers to pinpoint, but recent studies have shown it to be associated with tiny aquatic crustaceans known as copepods, the populations of which change in response to climate fluctuations. Colwell believes satellite imagery offers the potential for predicting conditions conducive to cholera outbreaks or epidemics. Colwell, a microbiologist, marine scientist and the author of 16 books and more than 500 scientific publications, will deliver the free public lecture as part of the 49th annual meeting of the Arctic Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The AAAS meeting, which is running concurrently with the Wadati Conference on Global Change, also will serve as the inauguration of the International Arctic Research Center, constructed adjacent to the UAF Geophysical Institute. The instrument, a triangular antenna array know as a medium-frequency radar, has been installed just inside the front gate of Poker Flat, which is located on the Steese Highway about 30 miles northeast of Fairbanks.