00:00Climate change is bringing with it all sorts of dangers, from extreme heat to drought to
00:08rising sea levels and water scarcity.
00:11However, now, according to researchers from Emory University in Georgia, global warming
00:15is also making our planet's venomous snakes even more dangerous.
00:19It's long been known that snake behavior changes with the seasons, however now the
00:22researchers have found a direct link between the temperature rising and your chances of
00:27being bitten.
00:28They came to this conclusion by looking at 3,908 venomous snake-related hospital visits
00:32between the years 2014 and 2020, finding that for every single degree Celsius of temperature
00:38increase, there was a 6% increased chance of being bitten by one of these snakes.
00:42They add that while they can't provide a direct reason for why this occurs, it's likely due
00:46to multiple factors.
00:47One of those is that snakes and humans are more active when the weather is warmer, meaning
00:51people are likely treading in snake territory while those snakes are also moving around
00:55in alert.
00:56However, there seems to be a threshold as well, as spring actually had the highest association
00:59between higher temperatures and snake bites.
01:02According to the World Health Organization, there are over 5 million venomous snake bites
01:06reported every year, resulting in upwards of 138,000 deaths.
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