Cooler regions could see ‘boom’ in tick populations due to climate change, researchers say
(NEW YORK) — Tick populations could see a “boom” in traditionally cooler regions should global temperatures continue to rise, possibly increasing the likelihood of the spread of tick-borne diseases, according to new research.
Even with just a temperature increase of only 1 degree Celsius, regions that are typically cooler — such as Scotland, where the research was conducted — could see tick densities increase by 26% to 99% by 2080, according to a paper published in the Royal Society Journals on Tuesday.
Researchers built a mathematical model to predict how tick populations will change in time in response to changes in temperature, Rachel Norman, a professor at the University of Stirling in Scotland and author of the paper, told ABC News.
Included in the model are considerations for types of landscape and the availability for ticks to feed on a host between each of its life stages — egg, larvae and adult, allowing researchers to study the complicated interactions between the landscape, temperatures, the ticks and the hosts they’re feeding on, Norman said. Hosts are typically deer or small rodents but can also be birds, dogs and people.
As Scotland has warmed, ticks have moved further into the mountains and areas that they traditionally would not have been able to survive because temperatures in the past were too cold, Norman said, adding that ticks tend to thrive in wooded areas with undergrowth, should other conditions, like temperature and the availability of hosts, be present as well.
In some areas in Scotland, cooler temperatures are limiting tick populations. But in other regions that are now warm enough, tick populations can increase significantly because there are plenty of hosts for them to feed on, Norman said.
After the ticks feed on a host, they drop into undergrowth on the ground and molt into the next stage, which typically takes about a year in Scotland due to the cooler temperatures and therefore limits population increases, Norman said. But with warmer springs emerging earlier and warm temperatures lasting through fall, the ticks have a longer period of time in which they can emerge.
“They won’t emerge and start looking for food until we hit a particular temperature” — about 7 degrees centigrade or about 44 degrees Fahrenheit, she said.
The model could apply to other climates around the world as well, Norman said.
With booms in tick populations comes the potential for more people around the world to be exposed to tick-borne diseases, the researchers said.
The next step in the modeling will be to apply different diseases, such as Lyme, to study, the risk related to the density of tickets, Norman said.
Earth’s average global temperature has surpassed a 1-degree Celsius temperature rise since the late 1800s, with most land areas warming faster than most oceans, according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment, a definitive breakdown of the latest in climate science from 14 different federal agencies, including NOAA, NASA, the EPA, and the National Science. Foundation.
The planet is on the brink of a 1.5-degree Celsius rise in temperature, according to climate scientists.
(SOLINGEN, Germany) — German police said they have detained a 15-year-old boy and are working to verify if the teen is connected to the stabbing of several people at a music festival in Solingen on Friday.
Three people were killed in the attack and eight others were injured — four of whom are considered “very seriously injured.” Police are continuing to search for the attacker.
The people killed in the attack include two men ages 67 and 57 and a woman aged 56, authorities said.
The 15-year-old arrested in the early hours is being accused of “failure to report planned crimes,” but he has not been charged, Markus Caspers, the Duesseldorf prosecutor general, said during a press conference Saturday.
Two female witnesses overheard a conversation between the 15-year-old and another person that could have indicated the attack, and they reported this information to the police after the incident, according to Caspers.
Police are continuing searches in “various locations” and are looking for potential perpetrators, police said in a press conference Saturday. Police currently believe the individual was acting alone.
Police said they found several knives at the scene and believe the attacker may have been targeting the necks of his victims.
Authorities are still investigating the motive behind the attack but said the victims had no apparent relationship to another and investigators suspect this may have been an act of terrorism, according to Caspers.
The “Festival of Diversity” was being held throughout the weekend to celebrate Solingen’s 650th anniversary, according to the festival’s organizers.
Prior to the festival, police said they had no information regarding a threat, so there were no surveillance zones or similar measures in place. They said they will be more thorough with security concepts in the future.
(WASHINGTON) — Israel and Houthis in Yemen have traded fire for the first time, escalating tensions nine months after commercial ships in the Red Sea started to come under threat from the rebel group — in a waterway the U.S. Navy has been patrolling since the war in Gaza began.
Israel’s strike on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah on Saturday killed three and injured 87, the Yemeni Ministry of Health said, in a fighter jet assault over 1,000 miles away from Tel Aviv.
Israel says it was a response to a Houthi drone attack Friday that killed one person in Tel Aviv. The exchange of fire was a first for the conflict in the Red Sea, where Houthi attacks had forced an Israeli port to close but had not struck its territory.
The U.S. Navy has been engaged in a firefight with the Houthis since October, hitting Houthi launch sites and batting down incoming drones and ballistic missiles. Tallies of reporting from U.S. Central Command count 14 of these missiles and nearly 60 drones fired by the Houthis and destroyed by the U.S. Navy in June alone, which by some assessments has made the sea combat the United States’ most sustained naval fight since World War II.
The U.S., which in January designated the Houthis a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Group, has extended security assurances over the Red Sea — where their attacks have hit vessels flagged by a variety of nations — and turned up pressure on the homegrown rebel group to cease its fire.
In an interview with ABC News before the series of attacks over the weekend, U.S. Special Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking, the senior U.S. diplomat to Yemen, said a more severe official designation of the Houthis is increasingly under consideration.
“There’s more and more talk now about a designation under the [Foreign Terrorist Organization], which will have some tradeoffs, we feel, with our ability to support humanitarian and commercial activity in Yemen,” the special envoy told ABC News.
A FTO designation by the State Department, which would level the Houthis with al-Qaeda affiliates and Hamas, could make it more difficult for international humanitarian groups to operate within Yemen by requiring a license to interact with the Houthis, who control key ports including Hodeidah and the capital, Sana’a.
“It’s the Houthis that are driving this conversation and making these options on the table that we all thought, months ago, and when Joe Biden first came into office, were not the way to go,” Lenderking said.
“But when the Houthis are very clearly behaving and acting like a terrorist organization, it’s forcing these questions to the fore,” the diplomat said.
Twenty-four million people in Yemen — 80% of its population — require humanitarian assistance, with 4.5 million internally displaced. 20 million people are food insecure, according to the International Committee on the Red Cross.
The deputy head of delegation for the ICRC in Yemen, Freya Raddi, told ABC News that the initial January terror designation on the Houthis had “no concrete impact” on the organization’s humanitarian work.
“However, it is uncertain whether this will remain the case in the coming months … the ongoing escalation in the Red Sea has caused delays in importing ICRC assistance to Yemen,” Raddi said.
“The ICRC is concerned about any additional measures that may have adverse impacts on affected populations and the provision of impartial humanitarian assistance,” Raddi said, noting that 90% of Yemen’s food is imported and that “counterterrorism measures can create additional administrative and logistical burdens.”
“Humanitarian organizations cannot replace the commercial import system,” she said.
Israel said it acted alone in its Saturday attack against the Houthis, which it calls a part of Iran’s “axis of evil.” The Israeli defense minister phoned U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin before the attack to inform him, but the Pentagon repeatedly emphasized the U.S. had no role in the Israeli strikes.
The U.S. in January intercepted arms it said were intended for the Houthis from Iran, which just elected a new president, and sanctioned the Houthis’ financial networks, but it’s not clear whether the Houthis take orders from Tehran or sometimes act “outside of Iranian dictates or recommendations,” Lenderking said.
“We don’t see any change from the new leadership in Iran yet in any dimension, but certainly not with regard to the Yemen conflict,” said Lenderking of new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
“There is a strong commitment by the Iranians, I think, to continue to support the Houthis,” he said.
Regional powers including Iran, Saudi Arabia, and neighboring Oman — a facilitator in talks between the Houthis and the internationally-recognized government – denounced Israel’s aerial attack on the Gulf country’s port, which engulfed the port in flames.
Protracted tensions on the Red Sea increasingly threaten a fragile peace within Yemen’s borders, where an April 2022 truce froze an eight-year civil war between the Houthis and the former government in Sana’a. The truce has “largely held,” Lenderking said, and a U.N.-led “roadmap” in December 2023 brought the Houthis and exiled government to the same table in agreement on a path forward.
Yet there are “very serious questions about what [the Houthis’] commitment is to a peace process in Yemen,” Lenderking said.
“They seem far more committed to burnishing their credentials as a member of [Iran’s] axis of resistance, and building ties with other terrorist organizations, deepening their ties with Iran. That seems to have been their focus rather than the Yemeni people, which is squarely where we want to see improvement in support made,” the envoy said.
The Houthis have said they would cease fire in the Red Sea if a cease-fire is reached in Gaza, which President Joe Biden has repeatedly said is his top priority along with a release of hostages held by Hamas. “He wants that work to continue full steam ahead over the next six months,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said of Biden Monday.
The president also assembled a coalition of nations to protect mariners and commercial shipping in the Red Sea when the Houthis began deploying drones and missiles.
Lenderking said that the multinational defense arrangement, which includes countries as far as Australia and as near as Bahrain, could be bolstered.
“Of course, the option remains to the United States and the seven allies that participate in this coalition to relook at that,” he said.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — At least 14 more people were killed and 450 injured in Lebanon on Wednesday after a series of new explosions of wireless devices rocked the South, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to the Ministry of Health and the Lebanese Red Cross.
More than 30 ambulances are providing treatment and evacuations to wounded people in Lebanon on Wednesday, the Lebanese Red Cross said.
The Lebanese Army command has asked citizens not to gather in places witnessing security incidents to allow medical teams to arrive.
Members of the Lebanese Civil Defense are working to extinguish fires that broke out inside homes, cars and shops in the Bekaa, the South, Mount Lebanon and the southern suburbs due to the explosions, officials said.
All walkie-talkie devices were taken from security services members at the Rafiq Harir International Airport in Beirut after news of the devices exploding.
Pagers explode across Lebanon on Tuesday
At least 12 civilians were killed and at least 2,800 people injured in the explosions that took place Tuesday, according to Lebanese authorities. Around 460 of the injuries were critical and required surgery, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said. Most victims are suffering from eye and facial injuries, while others suffered injuries to hands and fingers, he said.
Israel was behind the deadly explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday, sources told ABC News on Wednesday.
The Hezbollah militant group said it is conducting a “security and scientific investigation” into the explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday.
Hezbollah said 11 of its members were killed on Tuesday, though — as is typical in its statements — did not specify how they died.
“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression, which also targeted civilians and led to the deaths of a number of martyrs and the injury of a large number with various wounds,” Hezbollah said of the pager explosions in a Tuesday statement.
In a Wednesday morning statement, Hezbollah said it would continue operations to “support Gaza,” and vowed a “reckoning” for Israel for the “massacre on Tuesday.”
The dead and injured included people who are not members of Hezbollah. Lebanese officials said that an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy are among the dead.
Israel has not commented on explosions
Israel has not commented on its alleged involvement in the apparent attack, which prompted chaos in the capital Beirut and elsewhere in Hezbollah’s south Lebanon heartland.
Around 100 hospitals received wounded people, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said, with hospitals in Beirut and its southern suburb quickly filling to capacity. Patients were then directed to other hospitals outside the region.
The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those who had one of the pagers and was injured in an explosion Tuesday, according to Iranian state TV. The diplomat said in a phone call that he was “feeling well and fully conscious,” according to Iranian state TV.
“I am proud and honored that my blood has become one with the blood of the honorable Lebanese people, as a result of the horrific terrorist crime that targeted our brotherly Lebanon yesterday. This noble country has stood with dignity and pride since the first day of al-Aqsa Storm,” Amani said Wednesday.
At least 14 people were also injured in targeted attacks on Hezbollah members in Syria, according to the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Fears grow of Israel-Hezbollah escalation
The alleged Israeli operation has again piqued fears of escalation in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict ongoing since Oct. 8, when members of the Iranian-backed group began cross-border attacks in support of Hamas’ war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
Frontier skirmishes, Israeli strikes and Hezbollah rocket and artillery salvoes have been near-constant through 11 months of war in Gaza. Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to launch a new military operation against Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border. Tens of thousands of Israelis have left their homes in border regions due to the fighting.
The Israel Defense Forces said warplanes hit Hezbollah targets in six locations in southern Lebanon overnight into Wednesday. Artillery strikes were also conducted, it added.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to make a public address on Thursday afternoon to address the situation. In February, Nasrallah urged members to stop using their cellphones, describing the technology as “a deadly agent.”
Schools across Lebanon will be closed on Wednesday, Lebanese state media reported, citing the country’s Minister of Education. Schools and offices closed include public and private schools, high schools, technical institutes, the Lebanese University and private higher education institutions, Lebanese state media reported.
The Lebanese Council of Ministers collectively condemned “this criminal Israeli aggression, which constitutes a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards.”
It added that “the government immediately began making all necessary contacts with the countries concerned and the United Nations to place it before its responsibilities regarding this continuing crime.”
World reacts to pager attacks
The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon condemned the attack on Lebanon, calling it an “extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context,” in a statement released by the U.N. Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a press conference in Egypt on Wednesday that the U.S. “did not know about and was not involved” in Israel’s pager attacks in Lebanon and Syria — but said that officials were still gathering information and did not directly blame Israel.
“Broadly speaking, we’ve been very clear, and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we’re trying to resolve in Gaza,” Blinken said. Its spread to other fronts, he added, is “clearly not in the interest of anyone involved.”
A cease-fire deal in Gaza, Blinken added, would “materially improve the prospects of defusing the situation” on the Israeli-Lebanese border and allow thousands of people living near the area on both sides of the divide to return home.
The U.S. and the European Union have both designated the Hezbollah militant group a foreign terrorist organization.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Shannon K. Kingston, Ghazi Balkiz, Morgan Winsor, Anne Flaherty, Nasser Atta, Joe Simonetti, Jordana Miller and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.