Did Climate Change Cause the COVID-19 Outbreak?
Bryan Lee
February 10th, 2021
February 10th, 2021
Recently, the Science of the Total reported the first evidence of a mechanism by which climate change could have played a role in the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). The study revealed big changes in vegetations and habitats in the Southern Chinese Yunnan province over the previous century.
Changes including increases in temperature, carbon dioxide level, and sunlight have affected the growth of trees and plants in the region. Consequently, this changed the natural habitats from a tropical shrubland to a dry deciduous woodland in the southern regions of China. Furthermore, by comparing the distribution of bat species in the Yunnan province in the 1900s with the current one, researchers were able to see the change in bat species over the last century due to climate change. Such change in the environment allowed many bat species to migrate into the area, as researchers have found 40 new bat species in the Yunnan province over the last century, illustrating how climate change has spurred the migration of various bat species.
“Climate change over the last century has made the habitat in the southern Chinese Yunnan Province suitable for more bat species,” said Dr Robert Beyer, a researcher in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology and the main author of this particular study.
According to the study, the number of coronavirus cases in an area is related to the number of bat species present, therefore making the Yunnan province a probable location in which the SARS-CoV-2 virus may have arisen. The study further adds that bats carry around 3,000 different types of coronavirus, and as a result, the compaction of many different bat species into one specific region increases the rate of transmission and mutation of coronavirus. Furthermore, the Yunnan province, described as a “hotspot” for many bat species, is also the home to pangolins, a mammal mainly found in Asia, which the study suggests to have acted as intermediate hosts to SARS-CoV-2. The virus is likely to have jumped from the bats to the pangolins, which were later sold at a wildlife market in the city of Wuhan and caused the first human outbreak.
Because of the rapid spread of the coronavirus and the tremendous social and economical damages that it caused, many researchers have urged policymakers to acknowledge the role of climate change in outbreaks of viral diseases, and to address climate change as part of the COVID-19 economic recovery programs.
“Government must seize the opportunity to reduce health risks from infectious diseases by taking decisive action to mitigate climate change,” declared Andrea Manica, a professor in the University of Cambridge and the co-author of this study.
Overall, the study explores the impact of climate change in the recent global pandemic and helps emphasize the need to decrease factors causing climate change in order to limit the possibility of future outbreaks of deadly diseases. Most emerging infectious diseases and recent pandemics originate in wildlife, and there is clear evidence that increasing human pressure on the environment may drive disease emergence, as shown by the research conducted by Science of the Total. Therefore, not only will greater protection of the natural environment protect wildlife and the planet, but it will also reduce the risks of future outbreaks of other dangerous diseases.
Changes including increases in temperature, carbon dioxide level, and sunlight have affected the growth of trees and plants in the region. Consequently, this changed the natural habitats from a tropical shrubland to a dry deciduous woodland in the southern regions of China. Furthermore, by comparing the distribution of bat species in the Yunnan province in the 1900s with the current one, researchers were able to see the change in bat species over the last century due to climate change. Such change in the environment allowed many bat species to migrate into the area, as researchers have found 40 new bat species in the Yunnan province over the last century, illustrating how climate change has spurred the migration of various bat species.
“Climate change over the last century has made the habitat in the southern Chinese Yunnan Province suitable for more bat species,” said Dr Robert Beyer, a researcher in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology and the main author of this particular study.
According to the study, the number of coronavirus cases in an area is related to the number of bat species present, therefore making the Yunnan province a probable location in which the SARS-CoV-2 virus may have arisen. The study further adds that bats carry around 3,000 different types of coronavirus, and as a result, the compaction of many different bat species into one specific region increases the rate of transmission and mutation of coronavirus. Furthermore, the Yunnan province, described as a “hotspot” for many bat species, is also the home to pangolins, a mammal mainly found in Asia, which the study suggests to have acted as intermediate hosts to SARS-CoV-2. The virus is likely to have jumped from the bats to the pangolins, which were later sold at a wildlife market in the city of Wuhan and caused the first human outbreak.
Because of the rapid spread of the coronavirus and the tremendous social and economical damages that it caused, many researchers have urged policymakers to acknowledge the role of climate change in outbreaks of viral diseases, and to address climate change as part of the COVID-19 economic recovery programs.
“Government must seize the opportunity to reduce health risks from infectious diseases by taking decisive action to mitigate climate change,” declared Andrea Manica, a professor in the University of Cambridge and the co-author of this study.
Overall, the study explores the impact of climate change in the recent global pandemic and helps emphasize the need to decrease factors causing climate change in order to limit the possibility of future outbreaks of deadly diseases. Most emerging infectious diseases and recent pandemics originate in wildlife, and there is clear evidence that increasing human pressure on the environment may drive disease emergence, as shown by the research conducted by Science of the Total. Therefore, not only will greater protection of the natural environment protect wildlife and the planet, but it will also reduce the risks of future outbreaks of other dangerous diseases.
