Cyclospora and Climate Change?

Regular followers of this blog know of my wholehearted acceptance of Climate Change, and that — IMHO — it poses an existential threat to our established and very comfy way of life (click here for an index of earlier posts related to the earth’s changing climate). This is not to say that the world is going to come to an end — the climate is always changing — but we may not like all of the potentially negative adjustments humanity is going to be forced to make.

You are probably also aware of my thoughts about how Climate Change has quickly become everyone’s favorite go-to culprit for nearly everything that goes wrong: heat waves; increased wildfires and severe storms; melting glacial ice that, coupled with a warming and expanding ocean, is resulting in sea level rise; dogs and cats together. You name it, and the burning of fossil fuels leading to a warming biosphere is responsible.

This was again pointed out to me this afternoon (21 July 2026) in an article about the Cyclospora outbreak and how it may be linked to lettuce imported from Mexico. In the Climate Forward section of the New York Times, the article has the catchy title “What the Cyclospora Outbreak Reveals”.

A couple quotes from the article (bolding is mine):

It’s still not clear whether climate change played a role in the current outbreak. Cyclospora is a parasite that spreads through human feces, and it’s rare for investigators to pinpoint a precise source of contamination.

But experts say it’s plausible that warming could contribute to an increase in cyclospora illnesses. Don Schaffner, a food microbiologist at Rutgers University, told me that cyclospora tends to grow in the spring and summer, so higher temperatures could extend its season. In previous cyclospora outbreaks, investigators have theorized that heavy rainfall might have somehow caused human waste to seep into irrigation water, contaminating crops.

Whether or not this outbreak was directly linked to climate change, we know that warming is expected to fuel the spread of a wide variety of food-borne pathogens.

Is it just me, or are there so many uncertainties and “waffle-words” in this article that, as of this writing, the “experts” really don’t have any clear idea whether the changing climate bears any ownership of the potentially global medical crisis or not?

So… is our changing climate contributing to the outbreak? Probably. But really, it seems to me that the Times is possibly trying a bit too hard to establish the linkage in advance of any hard scientific data in support of the premise. And one other thing I have tried to make clear: I’m all for reproducible and verifiable data.

Stay tuned as this one plays out… assuming it can maintain a share of the news cycle.

Speaking of reproducible and verifiable data — and control of the news cycle — I’d like to offer a couple unsolicited predictions before I gobble some Tylenol and close my eyes (I had my second cataract surgery this morning and it was just as much fun as the first):

A couple days ago, our President threatened to increase tariffs on Canada because they are allowing their wildfire smoke to cross the border, and sure enough, he slapped a 50% tax on most Canadian goods this morning. My prediction? I bet he pulls them off in a day or two once the Dow adjusts as expected (can you spell “Market Manipulation?).

Second prediction: If the threat and subsequent imposition of tariffs is an appropriate tactic to bully Canada into taking control of global wind patterns, why not use it against Mexico? Especially if it can be demonstrated, or at least alleged, that the Cyclospora parasite is indeed coming north across the border along with the lunatics, murderers, and rapists.

Or maybe not: if a total economic idiot like me can see the monetary windfall that is being realized by the constant rise and fall of the markets, those smarter than me can likely see it as well. At some point, when enough of them call BS, the stock exchange may stop the wild fluctuations it’s been experiencing over the past year.

It’s been an all-too-familiar cycle: a new tariff is announced, the Dow collapses, and those in the know pad their portfolios. Then — a couple days later and right on schedule — the tariff is removed, the markets recover, and those riding the roller-coaster immediately sell and bank the profits.

Lather, rinse, repeat…