Pirate's Cove

Almost no one has really directly blamed Hotcoldwetdry yet. They’ve dinked and dunked around the edges, saying there are some links, saying that it will reinforce and cause future pandemics. Now, though

Climate change “may have played a key role” in coronavirus pandemic, study says

Human-caused climate change “may have played a key role” in the coronavirus pandemic. That’s the conclusion of a new study which examined how changes in climate have transformed the forests of Southeast Asia, resulting in an explosion of bat species in the region.

The researchers found that, due to changes in vegetation over the past 100 years, an additional 40 species of bat have moved into the region, carrying with them 100 more types of bat-borne coronaviruses. Bats are known carriers of coronaviruses, with various species carrying thousands of different types. Many scientists believe the virus that started the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic originated in bats in southern China’s Yunnan province or neighboring areas before it crossed paths with humans.

Many believe it actually was released, intentionally or unintentionally, from the research center right there in Wuhan, down the road from the wet market. Which has happened multiple times from that center

These findings have scientists concerned about the probability that climate change will make future pandemics more likely.

“If bats carrying around 100 coronaviruses expanded into a new area due to climate change, then it would seem likely that this increases, rather than decreases, the chance that a coronavirus harmful to humans is present, transmitted, or evolves in this area,” explains Dr. Robert Beyer, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Cambridge.

The researchers used climate records to create a map of the world’s vegetation as it was a century ago. Using knowledge of the type of vegetation required by different bat species, they determined the global distribution of each species in the early 1900s. (snip)

According to the authors, climate changes such as increases in temperature, sunlight and carbon dioxide, which affect the growth of plants and trees, have shifted the makeup of vegetation in southern China, turning tropical shrubland into tropical savannah and deciduous woodland. This type of forest, the authors contend, is more suitable to bat species.

The study calls this area in Southeast Asia “a global hotspot” for bat species and points to genetic data suggesting that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, originated in this region.

This, the authors say, provides the first evidence of a way that climate change could have played a direct role in the emergence of the virus.

Apparently, these climate scientists think that everything on Earth is supposed to stay the same all the time, and it’s your fault for driving a fossil fueled vehicle to get a juicy burger that changes happen. Really, these people just cannot help themselves in making ‘climate change’ the boogeyman in everything. Then we get to near the end of the article

Dr. Rick Ostfeld, a disease ecology expert from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York, finds the research compelling, even though he doesn’t agree with all of its conclusions. He says it is not surprising that climate change was found to have transformed forests and bat communities. He also agrees with the study authors that the movement of animals can help spread viruses.

But he is cautious about drawing conclusions beyond that.

“The link to emergence of coronaviruses is highly speculative and seems unlikely,” said Ostfeld.

“What the study apparently gets wrong is the assumption that the increased diversity of bats (which they postulate) leads to an increased risk of a bat-borne virus jumping to humans. This is simply not the case,” he said. “The vast majority of bats are harmless to humans — they don’t harbor viruses that can make us sick. So adding more of those species doesn’t increase risk.”

Kate Jones, a professor of ecology and biodiversity at University College London, is also somewhat cautious. She said, “Climate change certainly has a role to play in changing species distributions to increase ecological hazard. However, spillover risk is a complex interplay of not only ecological hazard but human exposure and vulnerability.”

Surprise! When you ask non-climate cult scientists they’ll start shooting this garbage down.

Read: COVID19 May Have Been Caused By ‘Climate Change’ Or Something »