I'm not one to cast dispersions. I won't pretend that I know the first thing about global warming and the science behind any theories scientists may have about its absence or presence. But strictly from a hypothetical standpoint, let's just say the earth is getting warmer. What would that mean for rat populations?
I found a little article in Digital Journal that poses a hypothesis: Officials in China's Xinjiang region are putting the blame for a recent boom in the rat population on global warming. They say because winter's are becoming more mild (due to the climate dynamism), the rats aren't dying off in the winter, and there's a resulting exponential breeding explosion.
They say the uptick in rats is reeking havoc on the pastures in the country's northwest Autonomous Region. The meteorological bureau put last winter's average temps in three degrees higher than normal. There was substantially less snow in the region's more extreme areas. Officials are approaching this rat control issue with poison, but they're having to be careful about the other fauna in the region including the foxes, and other semi-lovable creatures.Officials are saying that they are being extra careful with the raticide, which is known to pollute the environment and could poison the foxes and eagles that usually feed the rats.
I don't know what to make of this -- just that I smell a Chinese horror movie about a little farmhouse attacked by healthy fertile rats.
