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Scientists Say Climate Change Will Continue to Drive Disease Outbreaks

When animals are displaced by deforestation and global warming, that often puts them and the diseases they carry in proximity to humans.

An aerial photo of logging in the Malaysia rainforest.Credit: Rich Carey/Shutterstock

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Scientists have long warned that our warming world could cause more diseases from wildlife to spill over to humans and spread around the world. Now, a study published this month in the journal Science of the Total Environment makes the case that climate change played a direct role in the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic.

The research, which comes from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, explains that climate change-related temperature increases, more sunlight, and increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (affecting plant and tree growth) have expanded bat-friendly forest habitats in Myanmar, Laos, and southern China — where SARS-CoV-2 may have originated. According to the work, 40 bat species have moved into the southern Chinese Yunnan province in the past century, bringing 100 more types of bat-borne coronaviruses to the area.

According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, “nearly 75 percent of all new, ...

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