(8 February 2021) Scientists at Cambridge university published research last month linking climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, but it may not be what you think. Early in the pandemic, speculation and initial research suggested a potential relationship between seasonal weather conditions and the spread of COVID-19. What the researchers at Cambridge have found is a link between shifts in global bat diversity, climate change, and the evolution or transmission of the two SARS coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-1 (the virus that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic) and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus responsible for the COVID-19 disease).  

  • The research from Cambridge shows that climate changes have shifted global bat diversity and distribution. Increases in the average temperature and concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere led to changes in the types of vegetation cover, which created favorable environments for many species of bats in Southern China and neighboring regions in Myanmar and Laos.
  • Bats stand out in the animal kingdom as the leading carriers of zoonotic viruses, including an estimated 3,000 different coronaviruses (CoVs).

Why does this matter? The researchers also found that bat richness has strongly increased in the likely geographic origins of both SARS-CoV-1 and 2. If you assume the warming of the Earth for the next century is inevitable, the next COVID outbreak becomes just a matter of time.

  • The National Centers for Environmental Information estimates that the decadal global land and ocean surface average temperature anomaly for 2011–2020 was the warmest decade on record for the globe, with a surface global temperature of +0.82°C (+1.48°F) above the 20th century average. This surpassed the previous decadal record (2001–2010) value of +0.62°C (+1.12°F).

Coronavirus Data and Insights

Live data and insights on Coronavirus around the world, including detailed statistics for the US, EU, and China — confirmed and recovered cases, deaths, alternative data on economic activities, customer behavior, supply chains, and more.

Связанные Insights от Knoema

2020: The Second Hottest Year on Earth

(9 February 2021) 2020 was the second hottest year on Earth since the 1880s, according to the 2020 Global Climate Report from The National Centers for Environmental Information. For the northern hemisphere, the 2020 land and ocean surface temperature was the highest ever recorded in the 141-year reporting history at +1.28°C (+2.30°F) above average. This was 0.06°C (0.11°F) higher than the previous record set in 2016. The southern hemisphere was hot last year as well, reporting the fifth highest land and ocean surface temperature on record.

Global Markets Moved by China Coronavirus Outbreak

(3 February 2020) As the World Health Organization has elevated the global public health threat level posed by the coronavirus to 'very high' (China) and 'high' (rest of the world), global economic health is also beginning to suffer. The number of people affected by the coronavirus globally may seem relatively small — just over 14,632 deaths and 335,953 people infected — yet without containment, especially to avoid spread to countries with weaker healthcare systems, the human (and economic) toll could rise rapidly into a full global epidemic. As the second-largest economy in the...

Apptopia | COVID-19 Impact on Consumer and Business Mobile App Popularity

(27 March 2020) The force that is 'global social exclusion' is becoming a fatal event for some businesses that rely on in-person labor force and customers, while for others it is a chance for rapid growth and development of new services lines. As the coronavirus infections curve worldwide has shifted over recent weeks to become still steeper, entire companies have begun switching to remote work operations. Many industries, such as air travel, tourism, and retail are undergoing rapid business model adjustments to soften the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Below we share another...

Coronavirus and the US Consumer by Prosper Insights & Analytics

Prosper Insights & Analytics has 18 years of experience producing market leading monthly survey-based research of consumers' overall confidence. In its most recent survey, Prosper asked consumers about their concerns with regard to the coronavirus pandemic and the related cancellation of major events. You can explore Prosper's latest findings in depth below, but we'll give the spoiler: 82% of US consumers expressed one form of concern or another and believe that they will somehow experience direct consequences of the pandemic. Moreover, for the first time in six months there is...