The world, which is reeling under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, just got some more bad news. As the Earth heats up, researchers have predicted that wild animals will be forced to relocate their habitats — likely to regions with large human populations — dramatically increasing the risk of a viral jump to humans that could lead to the next pandemic.
Climate change could drive over 15,000 new cases of mammals transmitting viruses to other mammals, say researchers who have studied the link between climate change and viral transmission.
The study conducted by the research team led by scientists at Georgetown University and published in Nature, is one of the first to predict how global warming will shift wildlife habitats, increase encounters among species capable of swapping pathogens, and quantify how many times viruses will jump between species.
The study is “a critical first step in understanding the future risk of climate and land-use change in the next pandemic”, says Kate Jones, who models interactions between ecosystems and human health at University College London, and who was not involved in the study.
