Facts

• According to research published on Wednesday, water from melting glaciers is bringing viruses into contact with new hosts, increasing the risk of "virus spillover" into new populations.^[1]
• A group of Canadian researchers cleared snow and drilled through two meters of ice to sample soil from a riverbed of melted glacier water in the Arctic Circle.^[2]
• Their results found limited evidence of significant differences between viruses and hosts in the riverbed, but pronounced differences were found in samples of the lakebed itself, which was also investigated. Greater differences can be a cause for concern as they are, "directly correlated to the risk of spillover," meaning when viruses jump from one group of hosts (humans, animals, plants or fungi) to another.^[3]
• The authors of the research, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences journal, have cautioned that they're not forecasting an actual spillover or pandemic, saying that, "the likelihood of dramatic events remains very low".^[4]
• Scientists have however used an algorithm to determine the risk of viral spillover, which found that it was greater in lake samples taken from waterways that contain more meltwater from glaciers. As global temperatures rise, glaciers in the area of study are expected to generate more meltwater and, consequently, increase virus spillover risk.^[5]