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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Linda Geddes

Next pandemic may come from melting glaciers, new data shows

A glacier undergoing submarine melting in south-west Greenland
A glacier undergoing submarine melting in south-west Greenland. Photograph: Donald Slater/University of Edinburgh/PA

The next pandemic may come not from bats or birds but from matter in melting ice, according to new data.

Genetic analysis of soil and lake sediments from Lake Hazen, the largest high Arctic freshwater lake in the world, suggests the risk of viral spillover – where a virus infects a new host for the first time – may be higher close to melting glaciers.

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