A new study provides the first evidence of a mechanism by which #climate change could have played a direct role in the emergence of the #coronavirus #SARSCoV2, which causes #COVID19.
The study has revealed large-scale changes in the type of vegetation in the southern Chinese Yunnan province, and adjacent regions in Myanmar and Laos, over the last century. Climatic changes including increases in temperature, sunlight, and atmospheric carbon dioxide—which affect the growth of plants and trees—have changed natural habitats from tropical shrubland to tropical savannah and deciduous woodland. This created a suitable environment for many bat species that predominantly live in forests and are carriers for coronaviruses.
