By Bill Atkinson

Surfers & Chess Players uncovered an interesting chart from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention showing a sharp rise in influenza rates in hospitals in northern China.

“China has been seeing a surge in respiratory illnesses since last month, with children the worst affected,” NHK World-Japan reports. “The world is closely watching to see how the situation develops as China was the first country to experience the spread of coronavirus in 2020.”

In the U.S. there are plenty of headlines about respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases, which are rising, especially among children. Are these reports overblown by a public sensitized to the COVID-19 pandemic? Maybe.

This Surfers & Chess Players post isn’t about rising cases of the flu, RSV or COVID-19, but rather it is about lung health.

Winter viruses are examples of the never-ending attack on our lungs, yet we don’t often spend too much time contemplating our daily conditions: the air we breathe at the office, the virus spread from a handshake, smoke drifting in our skies from Canadian or California wildfires, or the pollution in our own homes.

The assault, however, is unrelenting and it comes in many forms.

Climate change, for instance, can influence the spread and severity of viral infections, making our lungs even more susceptible to attack. Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns can alter the geographic distribution of disease-carrying vectors, like mosquitoes and ticks, introducing new areas to viral pathogens. Additionally, extreme weather events and natural disasters induced by climate change can displace populations and lead to overcrowding, increasing the likelihood of the transmission of respiratory viruses. Once infected, individuals with weakened respiratory systems due to pollution or other factors may face more severe symptoms and complications.

Wildfires have been an increasingly devastating consequence of climate change in recent years, posing a direct threat to lung health. As global temperatures rise, prolonged droughts, abnormal heatwaves, and drier conditions create the perfect environment for wildfires to flourish. The smoke and toxic pollutants released by these fires contain fine particles and harmful gases that can travel vast distances, affecting air quality in regions far from the fire zone.

As Surfers & Chess Players we are vigilant to the trends around the world and in our cities. As strategists we know the assault on our lungs is serious; just look at data on asthma alone with 7.7% of the population struggling with it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Asthma carries heavy economic costs in emergency room visits, missed school and workdays that cost our economy $56 billion annually. Whew. This news makes a Surfer & Chess Player want to take a deep breath.