Climate change will lead to the spread of thousands of new viruses that will appear in animal species by 2070, a factor that poses a potential increase in the risk of emerging infectious diseases transmitted from animals to humans, according to a new study AP NEWS.
According to AP NEWS, the risk is greater especially for Africa and Asia, continents that have been hotbeds of deadly diseases spread from humans to animals or vice versa in recent decades, including influenza, HIV, Ebola and coronavirus.
The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Nature on Thursday, used a model to look at how more than 3,000 species of mammals could migrate and spread viruses over the next 50 years if the world warmed by 2 degrees Celsius (3, 6 degrees Fahrenheit), according to a recent survey.
In fact, as they found, the spread of viruses between species will occur more than 4,000 times only among mammals. Birds and fish were not included in the study.
However, the researchers estimate that not all viruses will spread to humans, nor will we experience pandemics on the coronavirus scale, but the number of viruses among the species increases the risk of spreading them to humans.
The study highlights two global crises — climate change and the spread of infectious diseases — as people struggle to cope.
“We do not talk much about the climate in the context of diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans,” said Colin Carson, study author and assistant professor of biology at Georgetown University.
“Our study summarizes the two most pressing global crises we are experiencing,” he said.
Experts in climate change and infectious diseases have agreed that a warming planet is likely to lead to an increased risk of new viruses.
APNEWS
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