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Sunday, February 16, 2025

The number of rats is growing rapidly. It will only be worse

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Climate change means that our planet is becoming more and more inhospitable for many animal species, but not for rats. The population of these rodents is great, their numbers are constantly growing in large cities and there is no indication that this is to change. The international team of scientists discovered why this is happening.

Migratory rat (Rattus Norvegicus) and Szczur Åšnieckiady (Rattus rattus) occur on almost every continent except for Antarctica. These rodents destroy public infrastructure, consume agricultural crops and pollute food reserves, causing damage estimated at $ 27 billion a year in the United States alone.

In cities around the world there is an increase in the rat population, and the international team of ecologists explained why this is happening. Their study, the results of which were published on January 31 in the “Science” magazine, showed that the increase in temperature associated with climate change, urbanization and increase in population density contribute to the increase in the number of rat in cities.

“Rats are fascinating organisms because they are perfectly adapted to people among people,” said Jonathan Richardson from the University of Richmond in the USA in an interview with Live Science.

Scientists analyzed data from 16 cities from around the world, most of which were in the United States. The data used in the study was collected within 12 years.

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Increase in the number of rats in cities

The analysis showed that in 11 out of 16 cities (69 percent) the number of rats increased significantly. The largest increase was recorded in Washington, San Francisco, Toronto, New York and Amsterdam. According to experts, this is a serious problem, because wild rats can carry various pathogens and parasites that are harmful to people and pets. They can also damage urban infrastructure, digging under the pavements and biting the walls.

In the study, scientists were looking for a relationship between the growth of rat population in cities and an increase in temperature, urbanization and population density. It turned out that it was a man, his expansion, drive a rat population. The strongest relationship occurred between temperature increase and the increase in the rat population.

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“Rats problem is a common problem”

Gerard Brown, head of the Rodent and Vector Control Division program, whose goal is to fight pests, he noticed in his 35-year career a relationship between warmer weather and the increase in rat population.

– Rats problem is a common problem. The only way to solve it is cooperation – said Brown. He added that in order to keep rats away from cities, people must limit the amount of food waste produced, which they place in external garbage bins. They are food for rats. Jonathan Richardson expects the rat population to continue to grow in urban areas along with climate warming. Despite this, he hopes that this study will inspire cities to start collecting more rats data. – Having more data can help scientists and city officials cooperate to solve the problem of the growing rat population and their consequences for health and safety – he explained. – We do not want to live with such thickening or universality of rats in our cities, so we must invest more in dealing with them now – he added.

Source of the main photo: Shutterstock



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