News Animals

Hotter cities? Here come the rats

Cities with higher temperatures and dwindling green space also have more rats

A rat peers over the edge of some grimy, concrete steps flanked by bricks and a black concrete wall

Rats love warmer weather. As temperatures in cities increase, people make more rat complaints, a new study shows.

Jamie Betts

By Bethany Brookshire

If your city is getting rattier, climate change may be partially to blame.

In an analysis of 16 cities around the world, those that saw the biggest temperature rises over the years also had more rat complaints over time, researchers report January 31 in Science Advances. Increased urbanization was also connected with more rat reports.