From New York to Tokyo, Toronto to Amsterdam, cities are warming up, and the rats are thriving. A global study published in Science Advances this year confirmed it: As temperatures rise, urban rat populations explode.

Now the BBC has picked up the story too. Their deep-dive “Ratmageddon: Why rats are overrunning our cities", explores what that looks like at street level. Their verdict? Rats are adapting faster than we are. And we’ve created the perfect environment for them to thrive.

For us in Aotearoa, where the climate’s a bit more chill and predator control is a national pastime, it’s both alarming and a little bit validating. We’ve spent 20 years perfecting tools to deal with invasive pests. Now it looks like the rest of the world is catching up.

Climate change is supercharging urban rat populations

The Science Advances study tracked rat sightings and temperature data from 16 major cities over 17 years. The findings were clear:

• The hotter the city, the higher the increase in rat sightings.

• Shorter winters and longer breeding seasons mean rats now thrive year-round.

• Dense populations and poor waste infrastructure are helping them scale.

New York ranked fourth in rat population growth behind Washington D.C., San Francisco and Toronto. At the other end, cities like New Orleans and Tokyo, cooler and greener, saw declines.

ats are evolving alongside us. In fact, the BBC reports that some cities are now seeing behavioural and physical changes in rats that allow them to thrive in new environments - larger sizes, higher tolerance to cold, and altered foraging strategies. “It seems like those warming trends impact the physiology of rats in a way that benefits them,” said lead researcher Jonathan Richardson. “They’re able to be active during the cold months more than they were previously.” (The City, Feb 2025)

Rats love cities, and we’re giving them everything they need

Urban rats are opportunists. Give them a little warmth, a buffet of trash bags, and somewhere to hide, and they’re set.

Add concrete-heavy neighbourhoods, few natural predators, and poor air circulation, and you’ve got what one city official called “a perfect urban exploiter.”

New York’s been under pressure to step up its act. In response, the city launched new waste container rules, rat mitigation zones, and even a pilot programme deploying rat contraception in targeted areas to reduce reliance on poisons.

It’s a novel move, but if rats are still chewing through trash cans, maybe it’s time they also tried a few Goodnature traps?

No toxins, no hormones. Just smart, safe and effective trapping.

Why more rats = bigger problems

More rats doesn’t just mean more scuttling in the shadows. It means a wave of real-world consequences that cities, businesses, and households are often unprepared for.

First, there’s the health risk. Rats are known carriers of over 35 diseases, including leptospirosis, hantavirus, and salmonella. As they move closer to human activity and food sources, the chance of exposure increases dramatically.

Next, infrastructure takes a hit. Rats chew through electrical wiring, insulation, pipes, even concrete, causing equipment failures, fires, or expensive repairs. One loose cable in the wrong place can grind operations to a halt or damage your home.

Then there’s food contamination, a major issue for homes, warehouses, and food production sites. A single rat can compromise thousands of dollars in stock, or worse, trigger a recall.

Add to that reputational damage for businesses (no one wants their café going viral for the wrong reasons), and the emotional toll on families dealing with infestations, and you’ve got a situation that’s more than a nuisance. It’s a growing urban crisis.

Smarter pest control: toxin-free, scalable and already in action

At Goodnature, we’ve been designing, manufacturing, and shipping pest control solutions that have proven their worth for two decades. They work, and don’t make a mess of everything else while doing it.

Our traps are toxin-free and humane, and Bluetooth-connected, a real value for hands-off users or anyone needing to track their pest control efforts for commercial or compliance reasons. Most importantly, they’re self-resetting, able to kill up to 24 rats before needing attention.

And they’re already at work.

Homeowners are using them to protect inside and outside their homes: veggie patches, compost bins, sheds, attics, kitchens, even inside vehicles, where rodents can do serious damage. Lifestyle block owners and homesteaders are keeping feed and gardens safe without risking secondary poisoning. Businesses, from warehouses and schools to food producers, are switching to Goodnature’s self-resetting, toxin-free solutions to avoid risk to staff, children, and stock. Even professional pest controllers are adding our traps to their toolkit for sites that require smarter, safer options.

We’ve helped eliminate over 22 million pests across 64 countries.

No poison. No mess. No fuss. Just proven design and real-world impact.

What cities, and all of us, can do now

The authors of the global rat study were clear:

“Cities that want to reduce rats should focus on changing the environment that allows them to thrive, not just removing the rats themselves.”

That means rethinking how we store and manage waste, especially food waste, and prioritising infrastructure that’s less rodent-friendly. Cities need to focus on making buildings, trash cans, and streets less inviting to rats through smarter design and enforcement.

It also means investing in public education, like New York’s “Rat Academy,” so that individuals and communities understand how to make their spaces less appealing to pests.

Finally, it means updating pest control strategies. That means fewer toxins, more intelligent tools, and scalable solutions that don’t just kill rats, but prevent them from bouncing back.

Ready to trap smarter, not harder?

If climate change is turning rats into year-round residents, then our job is to stay one step ahead.

From the suburbs to the skyscrapers, Goodnature traps are helping real people take back control, without poison, without hassle, and without waiting for someone else to fix it.

🔗 Explore Goodnature’s trap range