As It Gets Hotter, Rats Are Overrunning The World
These are just two points of reference geographically—
Rats have overrun the town of Karumba, Queensland, Australia. They have eaten everything from food to electrical wires. According to NPR, many other rats failed in their attempts to reach Karumba, drowning while attempting to get to land. Part of the reason for this rat infestation is that heavy rain and prolonged periods of unseasonably high temperatures have caused a significant increase in vegetation growth, promoting rapid growth in the rat population.
In New York City, across the globe, there is a growing rat problem as well. The local government has launched a “Rat Information Portal.” Residents of America’s largest city can track rat inspections by specific address. Of course, the existence of the portal does not do anything to stop the rate of rat population explosion. The rat problem is so bad that some private companies charge for “rat tours.” According to The New York Post, “Tourists are flocking to the Big Apple to check out its exploding rat population — and tour guides are tailoring excursions to introduce them to the city’s most beady-eyed natives.” By one estimate, the city is home to two million rats. Nothing the city has been able to do has diminished the growing rat population.
Rats reproduce as many as five times a year; a litter can total 10. They tend to stay in their burrows when it is very cold, which cuts the chances of mating. Thus, the warmer the days are in New York, Karumba, or almost anywhere, the faster the rat population grows. (Rats live on every continent except Antarctica.) Global warming extends the reproductive period and the places where rats can multiply.
Online news service Grist calls the time we live in” the ratpocalypse.” Its editors point out there are as many rats in the world as people. And the rat population is growing faster than we are.
