Using weather to predict disease

More and more doctors worldwide are using weather patterns to help get a jump on disease epidemics and other health concerns. In Kenya an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever was curtailed significantly due to rainfall and satellite imaging reports from NASA, and unseasonably warm temperatures in Europe have helped increase risks for malaria and encephalitis.

Although the technology is there to make these predictions, the manpower to back them up and actually do anything with the information isn't always available. In Kenya the outbreak of Rift Valley Fever was greatly reduced due to the advance warning, but in other cases -- like the heat wave in Europe in 2003 -- the outcomes haven't been so positive.

Like anything, what it really takes is money.