5 effects of climate change that you would not expect

Climate change is not only caused by rising temperatures, droughts or melting glaciers. There are some unexpected effects, such as an increased number of dog bites or the shrinking of some animals. Desertification, melting of polar ice caps, more frequent and more destructive extreme weather events: these are all special phenomena that can be attributed to ongoing climate change. The situation in recent decades has been worsened by the constant increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, released by human activity (from the food industry to the fashion industry, including transport and energy production). In fact, we are the ones most responsible for climate change and how many times have you heard on Ohga about the causes and effects that this phenomenon creates on our planet, on biodiversity of animals and plants and the effects on the atmosphere.  This time, however, I will tell you about little-known effects that you might never associate with climate change, but they are all connected to it.

Animals change sex

One of the most surprising effects of climate change concerns the sex of animals. For example, the bearded dragon, a reptile native to Australia, can change sex due to high temperatures. When eggs are incubated at temperatures above 32°C, genetically determined males can develop as females.

Dogs bite more

The study published on June 15 in Scientific Reports magazine explains that as a result of rising temperatures, domestic animals tend to be more aggressive. In fact, some cases of bites that occurred in eight different cities in the United States were analyzed, and out of about 70,000 bites, there was a 11% increase of the same on warmer days. (Mattia Giangaspero, more at ohga.it)