Partial photo: Georgy Trofimov
There’s a way that climate change could have a direct role in the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. Global greenhouse gas emissions over the last century have made southern China a hotspot for bat-borne coronaviruses, by driving growth of forest habitat favoured by bats. Increases in temperature, sunlight, and atmospheric CO2 have changed natural habitats from tropical shrubland to tropical savannah and deciduous woodland, creating a suitable environment for many bat species that predominantly live in forests. Coronavirus numbers in an area are closely linked to the number of different bat species present. An additional 40 species have moved into the southern Chinese Yunnan province harbouring around 100 more types of bat-borne coronavirus. It’s where genetic data suggests SARS-CoV-2 may have arisen and also home to pangolins, suggested to have acted as intermediate hosts to SARS-CoV-2. The virus likely jumped from bats to these animals, then sold at a wildlife market in Wuhan home of the initial human outbreak.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210205085718.htm