Scientists warn big cities around the world, which are more mice, mainly due to climate change.
Washington DC is among the most mouse cities in the world. Image: Audacy
Jonathan Richardson, a professor of biology at Richmond University, decided to study the trend of mice living in the city after listening to the newspaper reporting mice to invade cities. These trends often focus on one location and no convincing data. He and his colleagues decided to collect mice data from the 200 largest cities in the United States and found that only 13 cities with long -term data they needed. To expand the geographical scope, the decision team consists of three more international cities: Toronto, Tokyo and Amsterdam.
Data collected for 12 years on average and include clashes, traps and tests. The results revealed a significant increase in the number of mice in 11 of 16 cities, according to the study published on January 31 in Science Advances magazine. Washington DC, San Francisco, Toronto, New York and Amsterdam undergo the biggest growth, only three cities recorded the number of mice decreased, New Orleans, Louisville and Tokyo.
Researching the number of mice increases with several factors, including high population density and few urban plants, but the main reason is warmer average temperature. Rats are small mammals limited by cold weather, according to Richardson. Warming temperatures, especially in the winter, facilitates them to make food longer and breed year -round.
The warmer climate also extends the development season, providing mice with many foods and trees to hide, according to Michael Parsons, urban ecological and wild mouse experts. “Even the smell of food and waste fly further in warm weather,” he said.
The number of explosive mice is a big problem for cities. The mouse destroys infrastructure, causes food pollution and can cause a fire when gnawing the power line. They cause an estimated $ 27 billion in US $ 27 billion. They are also a threat to health. Rats associated with more than 50 pathogens can affect humans, spread through urine, feces, saliva, material and parasites, according to Matt Frye, an expert on harmful objects at Cornell University. Some pathogens can be very serious such as jaundice, also known as Weil disease that can cause kidney and liver damage, even death if not treated. There is evidence that mice also greatly affects mental health to the surrounding people.
Among the most mice cities, Washington DC is very prominent with a number of mice 1.5 times more than New York. The visible sign here is the hard plastic trash bin bitten by the rat. Last year was the hottest year in history in Washington DC. Gerard Brown, who is in charge of the city’s mouse control program, hope the cold weather in December and January will help limit the number of mice.
Discovered from the study sparked a wake -up bell about the challenge that mice could be posed in a warmer world. “If not handled, the situation will be worse. No one in the world thinks that we can get rid of the mouse completely, but we can reduce their quantity to the level of control,” Richardson emphasized. .