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There's a saying that in a big city you are never more than six feet away from a rat. It's an urban myth, but scientists are warning cities across the globe are becoming far rattier, and the boom is primarily driven by one factor: climate change.
Jonathan Richardson, a biology professor at the University of Richmond, decided to research urban rat trends after seeing media reports of rats taking over cities. These tended to focus on single locations and "usually without a lot of hard data," he told CNN.
He and his team decided to change that. They requested rat stats from the 200 biggest US cities by population, but found only 13 had the quality long-term data they needed. To give more geographical range, the researchers also included three international cities: Toronto, Tokyo and Amsterdam. The data collected spanned an average of 12 years and comprised rat sightings, trappings and inspection reports.
It revealed "significant increasing trends" in rat numbers in 11 of the 16 cities, according to their study, published Friday in the journal Science Advances.
The study linked rat increases to several factors, including high population densities and low amounts of urban vegetation, but the predominant influence was warmer average temperatures.
Read more at the link in our bio.
📸: Nick Lachance/Toronto Star/Getty Images
