A recent study indicates that rising temperatures due to climate change are contributing to the escalating rat populations in urban areas. The research highlights that as winters become shorter and milder, rats are able to spend more time foraging and reproducing, thereby increasing their numbers. Cities like Washington D.C., San Francisco, Toronto, New York City, and Amsterdam are leading in rat sightings. This situation poses significant challenges, as highlighted by researcher Jonathan Richardson, who emphasizes the need for cities to allocate more resources to address the growing rat issue.
"Rats are fascinating creatures, but they come with very big issues," says Jonathan Richardson, professor at the University of Richmond and an author on the study. "One of the key takeaways I hope cities glean is that it's a problem that's going to require more resources."
When the weather gets cold, that's a bigger challenge for these guys maintaining their own stable body temperature," Richardson says.
Cities with the biggest growth rates were Washington D.C., San Francisco, Toronto, New York City and Amsterdam.
If the weather stays warmer a little bit later into the fall or into the winter, or if the spring starts a little bit earlier, just by a week or two, that should allow the rats to be above ground, forage for a little bit longer, and reproduce more.
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