Politics

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Warns That ‘Diseases Could Escape’ From Frozen Glaciers Due To Climate Change

(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Justin Caruso Contributor
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Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told fans on a live stream Tuesday that if climate change isn’t stopped, glaciers could melt and expose humans to diseases tens of thousands of years old.

“There are a lot of diseases that are frozen in some of these glaciers that scientists fear that there is a potential that a lot of diseases could escape these melted glaciers,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Instagram Live.

“Things that were frozen for thousands of years, and that they’re going to get into our water, and that humans could contract them, and they’re going to be diseases that are thousands of years old that have vectors that we are not prepared for, that we have never seen,” she said, continuing, “Um…and so that’s a concern…Even if there are no diseases frozen at all in these glaciers, you have diseases that are spread by mosquitoes, and now mosquitoes are starting to fly further north that carry diseases like malaria, and a whole slew of other things.”

The freshman congresswoman has made climate change one of her key issues. Early this year, she released her “Green New Deal” plan, which calls for a radical restructuring of the United States economy and seeks to eliminate the use of cars with internal combustion engines.

Her plan was widely mocked by many on the right, but even some Democrats distanced themselves from the plan, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who referred to the plan as the “Green Dream.” (RELATED: Trump Tells Democrats To Embrace Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal)

The criticism led Ocasio-Cortez to lash out and declare herself the “boss.”

“So people are like, ‘Oh it’s unrealistic. Oh it’s vague. Oh it doesn’t address this little minute thing.’ And I’m like, ‘You try. You do it. ‘Cuz you’re not. ‘Cuz you’re not. So, until you do it, I’m the boss.’ How ’bout that?’” she said in February.