A Statistical Study on the Relationship Between Epidemics and Climate Change in the World

Abstract

Iraq is ranked as the fifth most susceptible country in the world because of its lack of food and water, extreme temperatures, and related health issues, as recent studies have shown that environmental conditions may not be the main cause of the spread of epidemics. However, there are still questions about whether factors such as temperature, humidity, UV radiation, carbon dioxide emissions (Co2), air quality, and SARS-CoV-2 affect the virus's ability to disseminate and cause COVID-19. The Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) emissions scenario reports, which include low B1, medium future emissions scenarios A1B, and high A2 scenarios, are the basis for modeling of global climate variables used to study changes in temperature, precipitation, and CO2 emissions. (1971-2020), the results showed that the temperature anomaly climbed to (2.1+) degrees Celsius. Temperature is expected to increase by 0.4°C, 1.2°C, and 2.4°C for B1, A1B, and A2, respectively, in 2099, while precipitation is expected to decrease further under A1B from 121 mm in 2050 to 104 mm in the year 2099. Understanding and predicting climate change is vital to elucidating its potential future consequences for society and policymaking. The current study presented the most important statistics related to global climate change, represented by (temperature anomalies, CO2 gas emission rates, and the number of confirmed infections with the COVID-19 virus). The data was monitored monthly and during the period from December 2019 to December 2022. We study hypotheses, which include proving or denying that there is a relationship between climate change and the spread of epidemics worldwide. The results showed that there is an effect of increasing the rates of CO2 gas emissions on increasing the number of infections with the COVID-19 virus. The study also concluded that an increase in temperature abnormalities leads to a decrease in the number of infections with the COVID-19 virus. Temperature and CO2 emission rates are jointly important, while the t-test could fail to prove significance individually.