Those of who live in Mumbai have seen rats eat away the tyres of our cars and then proceed to eat through the wiring. Closer to our living rooms, we have seen rat chew through the cables of the air-conditioners installed outside our windows. Science magazine says that this is just the beginning – rat populations are now likely to surge:
“Climate change emerged as a driving factor behind urban rat swarms, the researchers report today in Science Advances. As temperatures rise, they conclude, and people flock to urban areas and convert formerly “green” spaces into neighborhoods and shopping centers, they created a perfect storm for rat populations to explode. And the city that’s fared the worst over the past decade? Washington, D.C.
…adds Jason Munshi-South, an urban ecologist and evolutionary biologist at Drexel University. “There are likely dozens if not hundreds of cities around the world that have increasing urban rat populations.””
So why are we getting this ratplosion? Here’s what the scientists are saying: “Smart, cooperative, and resilient, rats have coevolved with humans for millennia and have fine-tuned their ability to take advantage of garbage, debris piles, sewers, and small postage stamp–size plots of soil along sidewalks for food and nesting….
Cities that experienced greater rates of temperature increase and more people moving in were more likely to have bigger rat problems, Richardson and colleagues report. That makes sense, Maas notes, as cold weather slows reproduction and foraging. Moreover, denser populations mean more dumpsters, more restaurants, and more opportunities for rats to eat their fill.
Disappearing green space also seemed to benefit rat populations….”
All of that being said, it seems apt that the city witnessing the biggest surge in the population of rats is Washington DC.
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