Scientists are studying how far human pressures on the natural world are raising risks of pandemics. They will weave lessons from the coronavirus outbreak into the next UN climate science report, even as their work is delayed by lockdowns.
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| COVID-19 is understood to have been transmitted to humans by bats. |
Covid-19, which has killed more than 180,000 people worldwide, is thought to have originated in animals, perhaps bats, before infecting people in Wuhan, China.
Global warming, a rising human population, pollution and destruction of wildlife habitats are among the factors raising the risk of such zoonotic diseases, which jump from animals to humans.
Zoonotic disease was mentioned in the last round-up of scientific knowledge by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2013-14, but the pandemic potential was not a focus.
Read the Climate Home News story by Alister Doyle - “Next UN climate science report to consider lessons from coronavirus.”
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