In #Arizona, a fight against a deadly #fungus is under threat from #Trump’s health policies

What one doctor’s quest to stop #ValleyFever says about America’s preparedness for climate-driven disease.

by Zoya Teirstein, October 2, 2025

Excerpt: "Valley fever is endemic to southern #WashingtonState, #Oregon, #California, #Nevada, #Utah, #NewMexico, #Texas, and parts of #CentralAmerica and #SouthAmerica, but nowhere are cases of the disease more common than in Arizona. After Arizona started mandatory laboratory reporting for valley fever in 1997, registered cases ticked up and down. But the number began trending upward dramatically in 2016. Then, in 2024, cases in the state exploded, hitting their second-highest total ever. More than 15,000 infections were reported — a 37 percent increase over 2023. California, which runs just behind Arizona in its annual valley fever caseload, registered a record-breaking 12,637 cases in 2024, representing a 39 percent increase over the previous year, which had already smashed a record set in 2019.

"Some portion of the rise in reported cases represents growing awareness among physicians and an associated surge in testing. The pace of new construction in #UntouchedAreas also plays a role.

"But the recent increase in cases has been so dramatic, Galgiani and other researchers across the West who study the fungus think another factor may be driving the trend: #supersoaker winter #monsoons followed by scorching summer #heat and #drought, a cycle made more intense by #ClimateChange.

"Because warmer air holds more moisture, monsoons and other major rainfall events pull in larger quantities of water vapor and produce heavier downpours as the planet warms. This physical fact has fueled a spate of #MonsterFloods across the U.S. and around the world in recent years. But the same warmth can conversely lead to drought by making the atmosphere 'thirstier,' or capable of absorbing more water from the land’s surface. Both conditions facilitate the spread of valley fever — the wetter conditions by encouraging growth of the #spores, and the drier by facilitating desiccation and soil disturbance.

" 'The main driver for us is certainly this very clear association for #coccidioides between heavy precipitation cycles followed by drought,' said George Thompson, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine who specializes in #FungalDiseases.

"And it’s not just valley fever that may increase its spread thanks to climate change. Peer reviewed research shows that fungal threats of all kinds are poised to emerge and thrive in a warming world."

https://grist.org/health/valley-fever-arizona-fungus-climate-change/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

#ExtremeWeather #ClimateCrisis #Disease

🎺 Got a new paper!
With oil and gas production in many regions coming to an end, a lot of industrial data is becoming available for researchers. With the right questions and tools - these might be a treasure trove for #paleoclimate
An amazing work by David De Vleeschouwer's and my student Rohit Samant, showing just the level of granularity and information these data types can provide. In this case, about the Miocene evolution of MW Australia's #monsoons.

Link: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025PA005157

Finalmente, lluvia en nuestro desierto ✨🌀

California has a four year rain cycle consisting of three dry years and a flood year, related to a phenomena called the atmospheric river. We were due for a rain year, but weren't certain we would get it because of the shifting climate. However, rain this Spring and a good heavy storm now at the genesis of monsoon season proper gives hope.

We start planting Fall crops this week, and if we can raise some more funds, will take advantage of the rain to establish more saplings to further our soil and water retention goals.

#rain #storm #ClimateJustice #Regeneration #Ecology #Monsoons #ClimateChange #Trees

Flash floods kill hundreds in Pakistan

BUNER, Pakistan (AP) — Flooding in a northwest Pakistani district has killed at least 220 people, officials said…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #AliAminGandapur #AsiaPacific #Climate #Climateandenvironment #Climatechange #Floods #Generalnews #KashifQayyum #Landslidesandmudslides #MalikPura #MohammadKhan #MohammadSuhail #MohammadTariq #Monsoons #Naturaldisasters #Pakistan #Pakistangovernment #SouthAsia #Weather #World #Worldnews
https://www.newsbeep.com/64369/

#WeekendReading: Li et al., on the complex relationship between #monsoons, deep #sea mixing, and carbon burial in the Bay of Bengal.

Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018225004481

#IncredibleIndia #HPTourism #Chamba #India

Hydrangeas in full bloom at #KalaTop #Dalhousie #HimachalPradesh (8000 Feet / 2480 Meters above Sea Level).

Built in 1925, this lovely bungalow built by the British is now the Forest Rest House of the Government of India.

#BritishInIndia #Himalayas

#ChaloChamba #RainySeason #MonsoonSeason #Rains #MonsoonMagic #Photography #FlowerPhotography #Flowers #Photograph #Monsoons #Rain #Himalaya