Economist Podcasts That warm buzzy feeling: malaria and climate change
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Aug 25, 2025 
In this engaging discussion, Robert Guest, Deputy Editor at The Economist, Don Wineland, China Business and Finance Editor, and Southern Correspondent Rebecca Jackson tackle pressing global issues. They examine how climate change is intensifying malaria transmission in Africa, projecting dire outcomes by 2050. They also delve into China’s cut-throat food delivery wars and the challenges it poses for service quality. Lastly, the innovative Python Challenge in Florida highlights unique ways to manage invasive species, blending competition with conservation.
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Climate Change Expands Malaria Risk
- Climate change will shift and expand malaria risk by making new areas suitable for mosquitoes and lengthening transmission seasons.
- Extreme weather also creates breeding sites and disrupts healthcare, multiplying malaria's impact.
Quantified Future Toll From Climate Effects
- The Malaria Atlas Project projects about an extra half million deaths by 2050 from climate-driven changes unless action is taken.
- Most of those extra deaths (~90%) are likely to come from extreme weather events that follow floods and cyclones.
Preposition Supplies And Use Climate Data
- Pre-position malaria supplies and disperse stocks geographically to ensure access after disasters strike.
- Invest in heat-stable drugs and combine climate and health data to predict shifting disease hotspots.