More than a century ago, the vast expanse throughout the Yunnan region of southern China, Myanmar and Laos was covered with grass and shrubs. As carbon dioxide build up in the air due to greenhouse gas emissions, temperatures rose and sunlight went up, the landscape began to change. The tropical shrubs turned into tropical savannas and deciduous woodlands, a pleasant home for swarms of bats. And this trend may be driven by climate change, a new study has found, pushing ahead of Covid-19.
The study, by scientists from the University of Cambridge and the University of Hawai’i, found that in the 100-plus years between 1901 and 2019, climate change accounted for an increase of about 40 bat species in the region and, subsequently , an increase of about 100 local coronaviruses carried by bats.
This “major global location” is where Covid-19 is thought to be caused by SARS-CoV-2, the virus. “These regions also include the native habitat of… Sunda pangolins… who are thought to have been intermediate hosts who passed on… SARS-CoV-2 to humans,” the paper said, published in Elsevier’s journal ‘Science of the Total Environment’ on Friday, he said.
To understand how this worked, they reconstructed global vegetation maps from 1901 to 2019 with climate data. They then determined how this affected the events and distribution of bats. For example, open spaces would not keep bats away from deep, moist forests. “There were many tropical shrubs in the area in the early 1900s, but very few bats in the area can survive in this type of habitat. As the habitat changed to savanna / tropical forest, bats became much more popular, ”lead author Dr Robert Beyer told TOI.
When a pathogen-carrying species moves into a new area, it can also create new ways in which virus shedding occurs. “Extending species to new areas can create new ‘viral sharing networks’. For example, a bat-bat virus may not have been able to capture any species in one particular area, but as the bat’s habitat moves to new areas, it suddenly overwhelms it. a new species domain that is the virus can jump to, ”Beyer explained. “Now, in this new species, the virus may need to evolve to better adapt to its new host environment, and these changes could, in turn, allow it to spill over. -into another species (such as humans). ”Higher temperatures, he said, can increase viral loads in sex as well as the susceptibility of viruses to heat, which can increase infection.
Other human-acquired coronaviruses, such as MERS-CoV, have not been largely translocated by climate change to the Covid-19-causing viruses and SARS. “Evidence of a similar contribution to climate change is less evident in other CoVan-related seized areas, such as MERS-CoV, where a plausible ancestor of bat-bat ancestor has been planted in Africa East, where we expect only a small increase in bat richness, ”the paper said. “Other biological and non-biological features that are not considered in our approach, such as hunting, invasive species, and pollution, can play a major role in determining the suitability of bat habitat and require further investigation. in the context of the CoV outbreak. ”
This means, the study concluded, that climate trends of pathogen-carrying species must be taken into account by epidemiological models. And to prevent such an overflow, climate change mitigation must be a priority. Professor Camilo Mora at the University of Hawai’i in Manoa, who started the project, said, “Climate change should accelerate the spread of wildlife pathogens to humans as an emergency call to reduce global emissions. ”
The study, by scientists from the University of Cambridge and the University of Hawai’i, found that in the 100-plus years between 1901 and 2019, climate change accounted for an increase of about 40 bat species in the region and, subsequently , an increase of about 100 local coronaviruses carried by bats.
This “major global location” is where Covid-19 is thought to be caused by SARS-CoV-2, the virus. “These regions also include the native habitat of… Sunda pangolins… who are thought to have been intermediate hosts who passed on… SARS-CoV-2 to humans,” the paper said, published in Elsevier’s journal ‘Science of the Total Environment’ on Friday, he said.
To understand how this worked, they reconstructed global vegetation maps from 1901 to 2019 with climate data. They then determined how this affected the events and distribution of bats. For example, open spaces would not keep bats away from deep, moist forests. “There were many tropical shrubs in the area in the early 1900s, but very few bats in the area can survive in this type of habitat. As the habitat changed to savanna / tropical forest, bats became much more popular, ”lead author Dr Robert Beyer told TOI.
When a pathogen-carrying species moves into a new area, it can also create new ways in which virus shedding occurs. “Extending species to new areas can create new ‘viral sharing networks’. For example, a bat-bat virus may not have been able to capture any species in one particular area, but as the bat’s habitat moves to new areas, it suddenly overwhelms it. a new species domain that is the virus can jump to, ”Beyer explained. “Now, in this new species, the virus may need to evolve to better adapt to its new host environment, and these changes could, in turn, allow it to spill over. -into another species (such as humans). ”Higher temperatures, he said, can increase viral loads in sex as well as the susceptibility of viruses to heat, which can increase infection.
Other human-acquired coronaviruses, such as MERS-CoV, have not been largely translocated by climate change to the Covid-19-causing viruses and SARS. “Evidence of a similar contribution to climate change is less evident in other CoVan-related seized areas, such as MERS-CoV, where a plausible ancestor of bat-bat ancestor has been planted in Africa East, where we expect only a small increase in bat richness, ”the paper said. “Other biological and non-biological features that are not considered in our approach, such as hunting, invasive species, and pollution, can play a major role in determining the suitability of bat habitat and require further investigation. in the context of the CoV outbreak. ”
This means, the study concluded, that climate trends of pathogen-carrying species must be taken into account by epidemiological models. And to prevent such an overflow, climate change mitigation must be a priority. Professor Camilo Mora at the University of Hawai’i in Manoa, who started the project, said, “Climate change should accelerate the spread of wildlife pathogens to humans as an emergency call to reduce global emissions. ”