S&S PROMPT: CLIMATE SCIENCE INSPIRED POETRY

Climate COVID Connections

Sciku Inspired by “Interconnectedness of life”

Origins in bats MERS CoV, SARS CoV-1and 2 climate-driven hotspots

By now, chances are you have heard about coronaviruses — Briefly, Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that have been known to cause a range of mild to lethal infectious diseases in mammals and birds.

In fact, Coronaviruses have been with us for a while — the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all coronaviruses is estimated to have existed as recently as 8000 BCE. Some of the earliest reports of coronavirus infections in animals date back to 1920 when an acute respiratory infection outbreak was reported in domesticated chickens in North America, and some of the earlier records of human coronavirus infections are from the 1960s — all that to say, we have had coronaviruses with us — for a while!

However, since the early 2000s, we have all become more familiar with a rather aggressive presence of coronavirus-related infections with the likes of SARS-CoV in 2003, HCoV NL63 in 2003, HCoV HKU1 in 2004, MERS-CoV in 2013, and most recently with SARS-CoV-2 in 2019. Several of these coronaviruses are likely to have originated in bats.

Bats — a humble flying mammal — display several unique features among mammals, such as a long lifespan relative to their body size, a low rate of tumorigenesis, and an exceptional ability to host viruses without resulting in illnesses. It is estimated that the world’s bat population carries roughly around 3,000 different types of coronavirus, with each bat species harboring an average of 2.7 types of coronaviruses — most without showing symptoms.

As such, the number of coronaviruses is reported to be closely linked to the number of different bat species present in a geographical area, and there appears to be a delicate equilibrium that allows the virus to remain long-term in the bat. It is when that equilibrium is upset, the virus multiplies quickly and jumps to another host such as poultry or humans.

A recent study provides evidence of the possible role climate change could have played in the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic.

Briefly, the study suggests that global greenhouse gas emissions over the last century have made southern China a hotspot for bat-borne coronaviruses by driving the growth of forest habitat favored by bats.

“Climate change over the last century has made the habitat in the southern Chinese Yunnan province suitable for more bat species,” said Dr Robert Beyer, a researcher in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology and first author of the study, who has recently taken up a European research fellowship at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany.

He added: “Understanding how the global distribution of bat species has shifted as a result of climate change may be an important step in reconstructing the origin of the COVID-19 outbreak.” Source: Science Daily

An increase in the number of bat species in a particular region, driven by climate change, may increase the likelihood that a coronavirus harmful to humans is present, transmitted, or evolves there.

While most coronaviruses carried by bats cannot jump into humans, several coronaviruses are known to infect humans are very likely to have originated in bats and enhanced by global climate change — making it important to acknowledge the role of climate change in outbreaks of viral diseases and to address climate change as part of COVID-19 economic recovery programs.

Climate change presents a clear and present danger for all of us and that life on earth is interconnected — as in what affects the living conditions of bats as it turns out is bad for humans and vice versa. One of the messages here is to keep perhaps working towards a more informed dialogue that includes science-informed policymaking that serves well-being for all living beings, bats, humans, and all others in between.

Perhaps with increased awareness, we can demand that we quickly and significantly reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions as part of slowing the possibility of another outbreak such as COVID-19. Let us hope we can work together to improve all our lives, humans and animals alike.

Thank you for reading!

*This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health condition.

**This story is part of the S&S Prompt series — science-inspired prompts to get you inspired — Our dear readers — have a little fun exercising your artistic creativity and write a science-inspired story — the format is entirely up to you — haiku, sciku, limerick, poetry, prose, painting, etc. — if you do — feel free to publish it anywhere on medium, just tag it with #SnSPrompt.

***Tagging some of the frequent S&S writers — Laura Griffith Machado, PsyD Lynn E. O’Connor, Ph.D. Synthia S. Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) ASeiler Dr. Marina Harris John Levin ScienceDuuude Melissa Gouty Dr. Fatima Imam Dr. Jackie Greenwood Louis Dennis Adelia Ritchie, Ph.D. Shin Jie Yong Dr. Preeti Singh K. Barrett Cooking at Home Jazz Parks Skanda Vivek Jenine Bsharah Baines Swati Suman Alberto García 🚀🚀🚀 Squeeze the Avocado Tara Desai Rita Hitching and anyone else who feels inspired to follow and/or play along with this fun #SnSPrompt: Science related to “climate change or even “Interconnectedness of life” or simply a story about a climate change (e.g., news article, random facts, funny meme on social media) and its impact.

While on the topic of climate change and Covid :

Check this one from David Rudder :

Or perhaps this one from Dr. Fatima Imam

Or perhaps this one from Swati Suman