Avsindige forskningsrapporter

[Telehiv]

Jeg besitter en lang rekke avsindige forskningsrapporter, begått av GW-frelste forskere rundt om i verden, der den ene overgår den andre. Jeg håper å legge ut en serie av disse etterhvert.

I forbindelse med nyere genial forskning om krympende isbjørner relatert til imaginære/politisk bestemte klimaendringer, kan jeg starte med en klassiker i samme gate fra 2007, fra University at Albany, State University of New York, og selvsagt - fagfellevurdert i Human Nature - intet mindre (hørte du, Prestrud?).

I denne studien fant man ut at skallen vår trolig ble doblet av kaldere vær en gang i tiden, slik at den nye Globale Oppvarmingen vil da selvsagt nå begynne å krympe skallen vår. Her er den stolte melding fra universitetet som fant ut dette (skulle dere bli VELDIG begeistret kan dere ringe Catherines telefon og be om flere detaljer):

Study: Global Warming Could be Reversing a Trend that Led to Bigger Human Brains

Contact(s):  Catherine Herman (518) 956-8150 

ALBANY, N.Y. (March 15, 2007) -- Early humans developed larger brains as they adapted to colder climates, according to University at Albany researchers.

The study, to be published by Jessica Ash, a graduate student in psychology, and professor of evolutionary psychology Gordon G. Gallup Jr. in the spring edition of Human Nature (Vol. 18, Issue 2, 2007: Transaction Publishers), suggests that human cranial capacity as an indicator of brain size grew dramatically during our evolution, and that variations in global temperature as well as progressive shifts toward global cooling account for as much as 50 percent of the variation in cranial capacity. The research utilized several measures of paleotemperatures and a sample of 109 fossilized hominid skulls collected over the past 2 million years.

In addition to the impact of global cooling, "By paying close attention to the geographic origin of each of the fossilized skulls," said Gallup, "it became clear that seasonal variation in climate may also have been an important selective force behind the evolution of human cranial capacity.  Specifically, we found that as the distance from the equator increased, north or south, so did brain size."

The authors suggest that a key environmental trigger to the evolution of larger brains was the need to devise ways to keep warm and manage the fluctuations in food availability that resulted from cold weather.

In species other than humans, problems posed by cooler climates were solved by adaptations such as hibernation and migration, and by metabolic adaptations including fur and the development of fat deposits.  During human evolution, however, the authors surmise that solutions to the problems of cold weather and a scarce food supply featured detailed and progressively more refined cognitive and intellectual strategies, such as the development of cooperative hunting techniques and more sophisticated tools and weapons. Increased brain capacity also brought with it the use of fire as a means to keep warm and cook, adaptations in clothing and shelter, and the development of more refined social skills.

Gallup and Ash suggest that while our understanding of brain evolution remains incomplete, the study provides evidence of the role of climate and migration away from the equator as selective forces in promoting human intelligence, and that the recent trend toward global warming may be reversing a trend that led to brain expansion in humans.

PS: Dette mirakelet er altså fagvellevurdert og utgitt i det store Human Nature. Vi må selvsagt også her ikke bare stille spørsmålet om våre barn i skolekorpsene nå må få nytt hattenummer, men også hva det er med denne klimagalskapen som får en tverrfaglig forsknings- og tidsskriftverden til å oppføre seg som fulle sjømenn?!

[Telehiv]

Når vi først er i farta, New Scientist meldte i 2008 at Global Warming ville gi døve fisker:

Global warming poses deaf threat to tropical fish

15:15 06 March 2008 by Emma Young

Going deaf is not a problem that most of us would automatically associate with global warming. For coral reef fish, however, hotter seas could pose a real threat.

Young coral reef fish with misshapen ear bones are more likely to get lost and die, and exposure to warmer waters makes the problem worse, according to a study of fish living around Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

After hatching, most reef fish spend a few weeks out in the open ocean before returning to the reef to settle down. And it seems that sound is a key factor in guiding them to the right habitat.

The young fish have to home in on the high-frequency noises made by invertebrates like shrimp and sea urchins, and avoid the low-frequency noises made by crashing waves and adult fish.

PS: Fordelen med døve fisker - igjen frambrakt av imaginære/politisk vedtatte klimaendringer - er på den annen side kanskje at de ikke vil uroes så mye av seismikkskyting og annet spetakkel i sine nærområder? Man kan jo da f.eks. spare mye på mindre behov for psykologhjelp til dem? Dessuten, siden psykologene på dette tidspunkt vil ha betydelig krympede hoder (jfr. forrige innlegg), så er det kanskje best å holde dem borte fra de døve fiskene?

Heng på, more to come!

[Jostemikk]

PS: Dette mirakelet er altså fagvellevurdert og utgitt i det store Human Nature. Vi må selvsagt også her ikke bare stille spørsmålet om våre barn i skolekorpsene nå må få nytt hattenummer, men også hva det er med denne klimagalskapen som får en tverrfaglig forsknings- og tidsskriftverden til å oppføre seg som fulle sjømenn?!

Det kan virke som om de som er sterkt negativt påvirket av GW-saken er forskere. Noen tanker om hvorfor det har gått så hardt ut over deres intellektuelle evner? Ble de slått av ei hockekølle i hodet da de ble født, i stedet for det sedvanlige klapset på baken?

[Telehiv]

Hvis dere tror at krympende hoder og døvhet (jfr. tidligere innlegg) vil hindre dere i å bli spist av bakterier frambrakt av imaginære/politisk vedtatte klimaendringer, tar dere feil:

Det er det motsatte som vil skje iht. til nok en undersøkelse, denne gang fra Science Daily i 2007:


Flesh-Eating Disease Is On The Rise Due To Global Warming, Experts Warn

ScienceDaily (Aug. 15, 2007) —

Scientists at the University of Hull are working on an improved treatment for a debilitating flesh-eating disease which appears to be on the rise due to global warming.

Should global warming continue to ravage our planet at current rates, the numbers of people suffering Leishmaniasis, a flesh-eating and sometimes fatal disease will increase dramatically, experts warn.  Leishmaniasis is caused by a parasite transmitted via sand fly bites usually found only in tropical climates. Rising temperatures will increase the number of countries the sand fly colonises, moving further north and through Europe. 

Due to travel and tourism, nations affected are already on the increase. Military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan are also exposed to the conditions associated with contracting Leishmaniasis.

Dr Ross Boyle, lead researcher on the project at the University of Hull said, "Global warming and the military presence in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan mean that this horrific and debilitating disease is affecting more people than ever before. My co-investigator, Dr Tim Paget at the Medway School of Pharmacy, Hull PhD student Carrie-Anne Bristow and myself wanted to work towards finding a significantly better treatment."

Her er vel ikke mer å kommentere? Spis grønnsakene dine og håp på det beste!

PS: Jostemikk, hvorfor kaster forskere seg bredt over sjokkmulighetene her?
Svaret er som alltid: Dess høyere skremselsfaktor, dess mer forskningsmidler kan høstes!

"Private funding" (i motsetning til kjedelige statlige forskningsprogrammer) er i tillegg hovedkilden til erkjennelsen: Follow the money!

PS2: Denne forskningen ble for sikkerhets skyld illustrert med skremmende bilder av oppspiste legemsdeler. Jeg savnet imidlertid dokumentasjon på at dette var forårsaket av klimaendringer, men det er vel en detalj som bare kverulantiske skeptikere bryr seg om?!

[Telehiv]

Dette ble mye leit og trist, men der er håp:

På grunn av de imaginære/politisk vedtatte klimaendringer (og denne gang solid modellbehandlet av australske forskere i 2008), vil dere snart få muligheten til å dø bort fra hele elendigheten:

Global warming set to fan the HIV fire
Tamara McLean
April 29, 2008

Climate change is the latest threat to the world's growing HIV epidemic, say Australian experts who warn of the "grim" outlook in the fight against the infectious disease.

A leading professor of health and human rights, Daniel Tarantola, has cautioned that global warming will indirectly make citizens of developing countries even more vulnerable to death and severe ill health from HIV/AIDS.

"It was clear soon after the emergence of the HIV epidemic that discrimination, gender inequality and lack of access to essential services have made some populations more vulnerable than others," said Prof Tarantola, of the University of NSW.

Those problems had not gone away, he said, and extra threats were lurking on the horizon "as the global economic situation deteriorates, food scarcity worsens and climate change begins to affect those who were already dependent on survival economies".

"Climate change will trigger a chain of events which is likely to increase the stress on society and result in higher vulnerability to diseases including HIV," said Prof Tarantola, due to address an HIV forum in Sydney.

Prominent HIV scientist Professor David Cooper, director of the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, agreed environmental change would have a negative impact on HIV sufferers.

"Climate change will lead to food scarcity and poorer nutrition, putting people with perilous immune systems at more risk of dying of HIV, as well as contracting and transmitting new and unusual infections," Prof Cooper said.

"And this would effect Australia too, because these infections could potentially spread. Just look at the horror that SARS and avian flu have caused."

The specialist said the HIV landscape was grim, with 16,000 new infections worldwide each day and the failure of research to produce a much-needed cure or vaccine.

He echoed the deep pessimism of 35 top British and US scientists who predicted this week that a vaccine would be at least 10 years and maybe even 20 years away.

"It's a pretty grim situation," Prof Cooper said.

"I don't think we have any idea of how to harness a vaccine for this and we need a strong basic science breakthrough to get anywhere with it."

He said it was important to strengthen preventative measures proven to work, like condoms and circumcision, and continue to investigate other more hopeful avenues, like microbicide sex gels and anti-viral drugs to block infection.

PS: Som dere ser, her er det konsensus over hele linjen!

[Telehiv]

Vi rekker vel en sviske til idag:
Den imaginære/politisk vedtatte Globale Oppvarmingen gir seg ikke; 2008 var et praktfullt år for avsindige klimaforskningsresultater, og fra talerstolen under den 10th World Congress on Environmental Health i Brisbane fikk vi vite at cornflakesen (ja, nettopp grunnet global oppvarming) kom til å ramme oss med den mest potente levergift noensinne registrert. Nyt hver setning: 


Climate change = 'killer cornflakes'
Rosemary Desmond
May 13, 2008

Climate change could lead to "killer cornflakes" with the cereal carrying the most potent liver toxin ever recorded. The effects of the toxins, known as mycotoxins, have been known since the Middle Ages, when rye bread contaminated with ergot fungus was a staple part of the European diet, environmental health researcher Lisa Bricknell from Central Queensland University (CQU) said.

"People started suffering mass hallucinations, manic depression, gangrene, abortions, reduced fertility and painful, convulsive death," Ms Bricknell told the 10th World Congress on Environmental Health in Brisbane on Tuesday.

PS: Og jeg som trodde at de mest sentrale klimaskader på levra vår kommer fra kald øl på de tre soldagene vi begunstiges med hvert år her på berget?

[Telehiv]

Akkurat da jeg hadde falt litt til ro etter de opprivende hodekrympingene, leversvikten, m.m. foran, husket jeg at mordraten trolig vil øke sterkt pga. den imaginære/politisk vedtatte Globale Oppvarmingen man mener snart vil omfavne oss om den ikke allerede er kommet opp på enkelte måleverktøy...og angsten for til og med borgerkriger ble bekreftet - igjen på basis av fagfellevurdert forskning.

For så sent som i 2010 var det igjen skremmende erkjennelser på gang, lenge etter at jeg var begynt å se mistenksomt på krympskaller (se helt foran) og det som verre er:

Global warming can lead to increased violence in human beings
Published: Saturday, Mar 20, 2010, 18:26 IST
Place: Washington, DC | Agency: ANI

A new research has shown that as the earth's average temperature rises, so does human "heat" in the form of violent tendencies, which links global warming with increased violence in human beings.

Using US government data on average yearly temperatures and the number of violent crimes between 1950 and 2008, the researchers estimate that if the annual average temperature in the US increases by 4.4 degree Celsius, the yearly murder and assault rate will increase by 34 per 100,000 people - or 100,000 more per year in a population of 305 million.

While the global warming science has recently come under fire, the main premise behind the Iowa State researchers' research paper is irrefutable.

"It is very well researched and what I call the 'heat hypothesis'," Anderson said.

"When people get hot, they behave more aggressively. There's nothing new there and we're all finding the same thing. But of the three ways that global warming is going to increase aggression and violence, that's probably the one that's going to have the most direct impact - even on developed, wealthy countries, because they have warm regions too," he added.

The ISU researchers analyzed existing research - including an update on a study Anderson authored in 1997 - on the effects of rising temperature on aggression and risk factors for delinquency and criminal behavior.

In addition to the "heat hypothesis," they report that rising global temperatures also increases known risk factors for the development of aggression in violence-prone individuals, such as increasing poverty, growing up amid scarce resources, malnutrition and food insecurity.

They contended that one of the most catastrophic effects of climate change will be food availability, producing more violence-prone individuals in the process.

"While there is some link between temperature and aggression, really the effects (of climate change) are going to be more indirect if those temperature changes affect the amount of food we can produce, coupled with population growth," said Matt DeLisi, an associate professor of sociology and director of ISU's criminal justice program.

"Then where the real damage will be done is malnutrition, because that sets in motion these other developments (risk factors) that then lead to crime," he added.

The researchers cited ecomigration, civil unrest, genocide and war as the third way global warming is going to increase violence.

They report research finding that rapid climate change can lead to changes in the availability of food, water, shelter and other necessities of life.

Such shortages can also lead to civil war and unrest, migration to adjacent regions and conflict with people who already live in that region, and even to genocide and war.

PS: Vi snakker ikke om klimagenererte lokale tullinger her altså, men "borgerkriger", "massemord" (genocide) og "krig" generelt.

PS2: Og kom ikke her og påstå at dette er spekulativ mølaforskning slik som mye annen klimaforskning, nei, se hvor solid dette er:

" While the global warming science has recently come under fire, the main premise behind the Iowa State researchers' research paper is irrefutable.

"It is very well researched and what I call the 'heat hypothesis'," Anderson said."


Moral: Kjør på kjøleviften, folkens, før dere kverker flatt rundt dere.

[Telehiv]

Forresten, for at dere ikke skal få illusjoner om at dere kan redde deres egen rau overfor klimaet; hva hjelper det når BARNA VÅRE og deres mentale og fysiske helse allerede er garantert i ferd med å ødelegges pga. imaginær/politisk vedtatt Global Oppvarming?!

Igjen er det glimrende fagfellevurdert forskning og stor konsensus ute og går i de miljøene som har fastslått dette, og ikke minst er det BLODFERSK vitenskap - og selvsagt med "widespread scientific consensus" - fra i år!


Climate inaction risks children's well-being
Lyndall Strazdins
July 6, 2011
Opinion

Leaving tomorrow's adults to solve the problem is no solution at all.

Cost-of-living pressures seem to dominate our daily lives and it is not often easy to think beyond tomorrow. But imagine a future where these pressures are exacerbated and then take the time to consider that we could have done something about them.

Climate change, if allowed to continue, will have a dramatic and lasting impact on the lives of our children and grandchildren.

There is widespread scientific consensus that doing nothing will mean this century is characterised by higher temperatures, shifting rainfall systems, severe droughts and more fires and storms.

As a result, it is largely accepted that food and water costs will further increase, while weather-related disasters will generate financial insecurity, social dislocation and loss of livelihoods.

These climate-induced changes will affect health and well-being, especially children's. Children living today will confront even greater health risks over their lifetime, with estimates showing a 30 to 100 per cent increase in their chance of suffering from illnesses such as asthma by 2050. Mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever; food and water-borne diseases; and diseases associated with air pollution and aeroallergens are expected to become more prevalent as our climate changes.

Recent research in Australia shows that young children are prone to overheating and that hot days can also increase the likelihood of fever or gastroenteritis. For every 1 degree increase in temperature there is a 3 to 8 per cent increase in diarrhoea-related disease, which is already one of the leading killers of children.

Added to this mix is the fact children don't cope as well as adults when dealing with traumatic events such as natural disasters, which are predicted to significantly increase as climate change takes hold.

Trauma exposure in childhood can lead to marked alterations in brain function and longer-term cognitive and mental health impacts. For example, children surveyed six months after the 2003 bushfires in Canberra, which destroyed 500 homes, showed much higher rates of emotional and behavioural problems compared with Australian norms.

In addition, financial hardship, trauma and loss associated with climate-related disasters will likely affect parents' mental health, potentially increasing family conflict and eroding the close, supportive relationships that sustain a child's mental health. In the US, rates of inflicted head injury to children aged under two increased fivefold after one hurricane.

More broadly, children's well-being will be affected by economic, social and cultural impacts of climate change.

If, as forecast, climate change results in food and water scarcity, then there will likely be a rise in the number of families living in poverty.

Higher food and fuel prices will have further, compounding impacts on housing affordability and commuting times, potentially adding to stress for families with children.

Yet despite this evidence, climate change presents unique challenges that make it difficult for people to make sense of it and respond to it.

A joint study by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth in partnership with the National Centre for Epidemiology and Public Health found that Australian children risk falling between the research-policy cracks.

Study participants, including experts in climate change and child and youth health and wellbeing, agreed that children and young people were already being affected by climate change, and cited extreme weather, rural economic strain, and mental well-being as some of the main concerns.

But they struggled to predict the future impact, due to knowledge gaps, lack of data and effective communication.

They were also concerned about the lack of involvement of children and young people in crucial policy decisions and agreed that urgent measures needed to be taken to address this.

There was much discussion about how it is hard for adults to change what they do; it's all about the solution lying with the people who are young now - the children now who can be better educated about these issues and will grow up to solve the problems.

While it is clear that children must have a say on their future, waiting for them to fix the problem without our help might well be too late.

They could end up so overwhelmed by the impact of climate change, including even greater cost-of-living pressures, that they themselves are unable to act.

Dr Lyndall Strazdins is a fellow at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, and co-author of Weathering the future: Climate change, children and young people, and decision making.


Og hvis du ikke forlengst har gjort det Global Oppvarming uansett vil føre deg til over tid (selvmord, jfr. fagfellevurdert forskning også her...), så kan du finne ut mer her:

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/climate-inaction-risks-childrens-wellbeing-20110705-1h0mj.html#ixzz1cdxFgLDc

[ebye]

Det er interessant å se hvordan retorikkens kjøreregler følges opp i klimadebatten.

Jeg har nettopp vært på et foredrag om formidling. Det dreide seg i sin helhet om retorikk, hvordan overbevise dine kunder og hvordan vinne debatten? En "sikker vinner" er å dra et barn inn i debatten, gjerne et barnebarn. Du spiller på følelsene til mottakeren, når han/hun blir konfrontert med noe som kan skje med barna dine. Deres fremtid kan være truet.

I klimadebatten er det ikke tilstrekkelig å peke på at den globale temperaturen vil stige 2-6 grader. Det er heller ikke tilstrekkelig å peke på dramatiske klimaendringe i store områder på kloden. Fremtiden til dine barn og dine barnebarn er truet. Vil du virkelig at disse skal lide? Hva vil de si når de finner ut at du ikke gjorde noe for å hindre denne globale katastrofen?

I innlegget over er det:

Climate inaction risks children's well-being

Se på hvordan "barn" utnyttes i klimasaken. Tenk på dette neste gang du leser om barnelidelser som følge av klimaendringene. Hermed er de avslørt og dere er advart!

[seoto]

Climate inaction risks children's well-being

Se på hvordan "barn" utnyttes i klimasaken. Tenk på dette neste gang du leser om barnelidelser som følge av klimaendringene. Hermed er de avslørt og dere er advart!

Bruk - eller kanskje heller misbruk - av folks følelser når det gjelder ansvar for barn var noe av det første jeg reagerte på i klimadebatten! I mine øyne er det helt fryktelig når folk blir misbrukt på denne måten. Vi har sett noe av det samme innen vaksineindustrien når det gjelder nye vaksiner hvor man ikke har full oversikt over tidlige eller sene bivirkninger. Der blir også foreldre presset med at: tenk hva som kan skje med ditt barn ... Men jeg forstår foreldrene, det er lett å la seg misbruke i beste mening. Penger og makt har ingen moral.

Når det gjelder å vise til vårt ansvar overfor barn og barnebarn, er det en viss trønder som er ganske hissig på dette virkemidlet!

[Telehiv]

Takk for gode og kloke kommentarer til både ebye og seoto, det var mitt håp at dere skulle se nettopp
det hjerteløst spekulative i disse "studiene" - kamuflert bak salvesesfull klimabekymring.

Jeg kan legge ut flere avsindigheter med vond bismak etterhvert på denne tråden, hvis dere ikke syns dette blir for anmassende?

[seoto]

Tele, jeg håper du fortsetter å legge ut opplysninger - det er fryktelig mye å ta av! Det finnes noen utenlandske nettsider som har vært veldig flinke til å ta vare på slikt og legge ut linker. Det ville være veldig fint om vi også kan samle det på en norsk nettside. Godt å ha når historien skal dokumenteres!

[Telehiv]

Hvis ikke den grusomme imaginære/politisk vedtatte globale oppvarmingen ødelegger barna våre med vårt vitende og vilje fordi vi ikke vil adlyde IPCC, så har man tross alt de like uskyldige, stakkars eldre, som vi skeptikere nå sender i en tidlig grav:

More aged deaths predicted due to increase in extreme heat

Adam Morton
March 26, 2009

The number of elderly Melburnians dying due to extreme heat is expected to rise dramatically as climate change takes hold this century, research suggests.

Heat stress is also projected to hit workplaces, with more regular oppressive days affecting productivity.

A separate study found the projected increase in bushfires would reduce air quality, leading to more cases of potentially fatal respiratory illness.

Nicole Joffe from consultants Net Balance found the number of days with an average temperature above 30 degrees would double by mid-century - from two to at least four a year - even if governments acted to cut greenhouse emissions. Failure to tackle climate change would trigger a steeper rise.

In the past, extreme heat in this range has increased deaths among Melburnians aged 65 and older by nearly a fifth.

Ms Joffe said her results posed questions about how people adapt to climate change.

"We need to look at air-conditioning and evaporative cooling as a start, but we also need policymakers to drive innovation in the area so we can find other solutions," she said from the Greenhouse 2009 conference in Perth.

Separate work by the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research found future bushfires were likely to substantially increase pollution over the city, undoing work to improve air quality over the past two decades.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/more-aged-deaths-predicted-due-to-increase-in-extreme-heat-20090325-9amn.html#ixzz1cfaGIHuU

PS: OOOooopps - denne ekstreme varmen har ikke kommet ennå, den skal komme om noen tiår. Den ekstreme varmen de snakker om er tidligere erfaringer med slikt.
Men ooooopppss igjen, ikke si det høyt, for da må Mann inn og korrigere de historiske fakta igjen. For det har aldri vært like varmt før, vet dere. 

[Jostemikk]

Jeg har lenge ment at svært mye av den "forskningen" som etter hvert er relatert til klima (for da får de forskningsmidler), minner mer om klimaprostitusjon enn om klimaforskning.

Flott at du samler denne galskapen i en tråd, Telehiv!

[Telehiv]

Når man har brukt opp skremslene rundt barna våre og de stakkars eldre, er det på tide å hente mer sponsormidler til denne Hellige Krig.

Hvem skremmer man da?

Det har dere vel skjønt allerede: Rike forretningsfolk som bruker flyplasser i den vestlige verden og som ikke har lyst å bli rammet av nye livsfarlige klimasykdommer frambrakt av den imaginære/politisk vedtatte men likevel dramatisk livsfarlige Globale Oppvarmingen:

'Airport Malaria' Risk Rising With Global Warming

Researchers say once inhospitable climes becoming more conducive to spread.

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Dec. 12 2008 (HealthDay News)
-- Global warming is raising the risk for infection with so-called "airport malaria" in malaria-free zones of the United States and Europe, researchers warn.

Here's how it happens, as the scientists explain it: Mosquitoes make their way on to planes in tropical regions, and at the end of a flight can escape into the increasingly warmer climates of developed countries, where they now have a better chance of surviving and proliferating.

"The real problem with malaria is that it is not rare," said study author Dr. James H. Diaz, program director of environmental and occupational health at Louisiana State University in New Orleans. "It's the most common cause of infections in the world. It kills over 12 million people per year, and they're probably 300 to 500 million cases in the world every year. And the malaria-endemic areas of the world are themselves growing as the world warms."

"And we also know that an infected patient can get on a plane and get anywhere in 24 hours," added Diaz. "And an infected mosquito can get on a plane, as well. And in a warming world where mosquitoes live longer, have more breeding areas, and longer egg-laying seasons, this is a way the disease can be reintroduced into areas where it is now uncommon, such as the U.S."

Diaz and his colleagues presented their findings Monday at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene annual meeting, in New Orleans.

Diaz explained that in the more developed areas of the world where malaria is not widespread, the most common type of malaria is "imported malaria."

As distinguished from "airport malaria," this form of disease transmission simply involves the travel of a patient who had previously been infected with the illness in a region where malaria is common to regions where the disease is not common, such as the U.S. and Europe.

Diaz noted that the second most common means of transmitting malaria in regions where malaria is rare involves mosquitoes local to the region biting a traveler previously infected in a malaria-prone location. The mosquito then goes on to infect people living in the non-endemic region.

In the third instance, "airport malaria" is considered to be the least likely transmission scenario in malaria-free locales. In this case, a malaria-infected mosquito actually makes it way onto a plane traveling into a non-endemic zone. It then leaves the plane upon landing and bites somebody within a mile or so of the airport.

The authors point out that in 1999, the West Nile virus probably arrived in the United States by air via an infected traveler or an infected mosquito, eventually leading to the infection of local wild birds that in turn flew across the United States The result: 4,000 human infections that caused the death of 263 patients.

To highlight the serious potential for malaria to track the same route into currently non-infected regions, the researchers observe that a 1983 analysis of international planes coming from tropical regions to Gatwick Airport in London found that 12 of 67 planes were carrying mosquitoes.

To date, two cases of "airport malaria" were identified at Gatwick in 1983, and another six cases were uncovered at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris in 1994.

"It's very rare," admitted Diaz. "But it will happen here in the U.S., if it hasn't happened already."

Meanwhile, Dr. Philip Tierno, director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University Medical Center, suggested that plane fumigation is one potential solution to the problem.

"In an article I wrote about a year or two ago, I stressed the need to fumigate airlines as the passengers disembark, especially if they originate from areas that have endemic malaria," he said. "But airlines don't want to do it, because some people may have an adverse reaction to the fumigate, and it takes time and money, and it's not part of the current turnaround procedure. But I think it should be mandated by the World Health Organization."

Tierno said that, in the absence of such preventative steps, the threat is significant.

"I can say that airport malaria has occurred in the past and will occur in the future unless something is done about it," he said. "I don't think it would be a situation that would give rise to large numbers of individuals getting ill, judging on the past experience we have over decades of flying. But I do think it can get worse if air travel increases, which it might. So, I think the more significant thing is, you don't want any number of individuals coming down with airport malaria if you can help it."

Så: "Rikfolk på alle flyplasser - redd deres eget skinn også - støtt vår seriøse forskning!"