Climate change

Study: Climate Change Reportedly Fueling 10% Rise in Antibiotic Resistance

Will resistance continue until climate policies are enacted or is the real root cause factory farming?

Published MAY 27

Study: Climate Change Reportedly Fueling 10% Rise in Antibiotic Resistance

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Above: A scientist conducts a Salmonella study in Munich, Germany, on April 29. Image credit: Leonie Asendorpf/picture alliance/Getty Images

The Facts

A study published in The Lancet Planetary Health on Tuesday analyzed more than 480,000 Salmonella genomes from 139 countries collected between 1940 and 2023, finding that climate change allegedly resulted in a 10% global rise in antibiotic resistance genes in the bacteria.
The Straits Times
The Lancet
The global average abundance of antibiotic resistance genes in Salmonella increased by 38% over the study period, with 82% of countries examined recording rises. The strongest climate-linked increases were observed in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
guardian
The Japan Times
Researchers found that antibiotic resistance genes do not increase steadily with rising temperatures but change in a more complex, non-linear way depending on both temperature and rainfall, suggesting environmental shifts can accelerate how bacteria adapt to antibiotics.
The Lancet
NDTV
Higher temperatures can speed up bacterial growth and gene exchange, while extreme flooding can accelerate resistance gene spread in water systems and drought can concentrate antibiotic residues and resistant bacteria in compromised water sources.
guardian
The Straits Times
Projections from the study indicate that meeting low-emission climate targets alongside strengthened antibiotic stewardship programs could reduce Salmonella antibiotic resistance genes by 24% compared with the highest-emission scenario by 2100.
NDTV
The Japan Times
A separate study published in Nature Microbiology by researchers at the California Institute of Technology found that drought conditions consistently select for antibiotic resistance in soil bacterial communities and correlate with higher rates of resistant infections in hospitals worldwide.
guardian
Ars Technica

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The Spin

Climate-concerned narrative

Climate change is actively making antibiotic resistance worse. This isn't a distant threat, either, as 82% of countries studied already show increases, with the entire global south and Middle East being hardest hit. Meeting Paris Agreement targets, alongside stronger antibiotic stewardship, could cut salmonella resistance genes by 24%, while continuing to ignore climate change as a factor will leave a major mitigation lever unpulled.

The Lancet

guardian

Climate-skeptic narrative

Factory farming is the real engine driving antibiotic resistance. 70% of all antibiotics worldwide are consumed by livestock operations, creating the perfect conditions for drug-resistant superbugs. Radical emissions-cutting policies drive up agricultural costs and leave more people hungry, making populations more vulnerable to disease in the first place. Reducing excessive meat demand and reforming industrial agriculture is the answer, not forcing expensive, unhelpful climate mandates.

More Than Meats The Eye