Rise in snakebites across US linked to climate crisis and sprawling suburbs

• Dramatic increase in bites continues recent upward trend
• North Carolina, Georgia and Texas on track to break records

Climate warming and the expansion of human settlements across the southern states of the US has led to a dramatic increase in the number of people bitten during encounters with venomous snakes, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The increase in bites is on track to break records in North Carolina, Georgia and Texas where copperhead snakes are the dominant species, with a total of 2,118 bites, an increase of 83 over the previous year, the newspaper said. In Florida, where the eastern coral snake and the cottonmouth are common, numbers remain average.