Climate change will force large numbers of wild animals to relocate in the next 50 years, dramatically increasing the chances that viruses will jump from one species of mammal to another, including humans, a new study says.
Using computer modeling, researchers predicted 3,139 species of mammals will seek new habitats by 2070, including areas with high population density, if the world only warms by 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
As different species come into contact with each other for the first time, about 4,000 viruses will move from one species to another, according to the study published in Nature. Birds and marine animals weren't included in the study.
Africa and Southeast Asia will be most affected, with bats doing most of this virus spreading because of their ability to fly long distances, the study said.
The wildlife trade is a good analogy because animals are brought together in unnatural combinations, Colin Carlson, the study's lead author and an assistant research professor at the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center, said in a university news release.
"But markets aren't special anymore; in a changing climate, that kind of process will be the reality in nature just about everywhere," Carlson said.
