Bummer: Hotcoldwetdry Could Give You Rabies

All because you decided to use your ice maker and dish washer

(Grist) If rabid environmental activists don’t get their way, the rest of us might end up rabid too. This year’s drought is leading to a huge jump in rabies rates in stricken states, and climate change will only make it worse.

The heat wave and drought in the southern states, which NASA’s James Hansen says is conclusively caused by climate change, is driving rabies-prone animals closer to human habitation:

While the number of reported rabid animals declined nationwide in 2010, according to the most recent federal data,states such as South Dakota, Kansas and Texas have recently seen a jump in the number of skunks testing positive. In drought-stricken Texas, more than 1,000 animals last year were exposed to rabid skunks, double the number in 2010. “More skunks seem to have migrated to suburban areas where there is water,” said Ernest Oertli, a veterinarian with the Texas Department of State Health Services.

It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with Mankind’s encroachment on the areas where the animals live, could it? Or moving the water from nature areas to suburban areas? Na, that would be silly. It has got to be your fault, for using energy. Just turn all your lights off, save Gaia.

And, it couldn’t possibly be natural, because the climate of the Earth has historically stayed exactly the same in the 4.5 billion years before 1980. There were no droughts, and the temperature was always the same.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.

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