Warming Arctic Regions Encourage Mosquito Life
Global warming is already proving to be merciless and the Arctic sea ice is melting down rapidly. This unfortunate event is already putting our species at high risk because the planet’s poles have a very important role in keeping it cool and protecting it from the sun. Moreover, there are other important species that are being endangered, such as polar bears or penguins.
But there is one species that thrives from complete global warming: mosquitoes. A new study has revealed that warming Arctic regions encourage mosquito life. They can emerge more quickly, survive longer and even grow faster as conditions get very pleasant for them. This is important because the study was actually looking to prove that Arctic mosquito populations were decreasing.
The main zone that the research was focused on was the western side of Greenland. If they had established that the mosquito population was low, they might have been able to raise awareness about conservation efforts. But that was not at all the case. Growing populations have shown specialists that mosquitoes have no issue in bolstering their forces.
So how did researchers come to this conclusion? They wanted to see how increasing temperatures affect mosquitoes in the area. They created a climate-population model that would give accurate data on mosquito survival in future climate change and increased temperatures. And what they found out was fantastic.
Usually, mosquito eggs evolve and hatch during springtime. The increasingly warm temperatures, however, showed that mosquitoes require less time to hatch: around 10% less. This gives them a slight advantage over aquatic predators like the diving beetles. Because they hatch faster, they evolve faster, so they have a greater chance to survive until they become fully grown.
But there is more: if the Arctic temperatures are going to go up by 2 degrees Celsius, the mosquito survival rate will increase up to 53%. These are the approximations that the study has been able to make and they are not good news for reindeer and caribou herds. They represent a major food resource in the Arctic regions, so if mosquitoes continue to grow in power, these animals are actually in grave danger.
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