Oh rats! Rat populations spike in cities due to warming temperatures, study says
CBSN
Urban dwellers in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Toronto, New York City, and Amsterdam might have seen rats scurrying across their cities — and they're not imagining an influx.
Rat populations have spiked in cities with warming temperatures resulting from climate change or urban heat islands, found a study released Friday in the journal Science Advances. Researchers analyzed public complaint and inspection data in 16 cities worldwide to estimate trends in rat populations and connect it to global warming patterns — marking the first time these associations have been linked.
"We found these cities that have increasing warming trends over the last 50 years or so also have faster number of rats," Jonathan L. Richardson, an associate professor at the University of Richmond and lead study author, told CBS News.
Dee Warner disappeared on a Sunday morning in the spring, just as the first crops were being planted in the farmland of Lenawee County, Michigan. Warner, 52, was living on a farm with her second husband, Dale Warner, and their one child together, then 9. The Warners ran three main businesses from their farm, and Dee Warner had four adult children from her first marriage — all living on their own.