By: Sherrie Wang
Global warming is a recognized issue that is known to have detrimental effects on the environment. Despite the efforts of humans to control global warming, the temperature of the earth is still increasing at an alarming rate. Due to this worldwide crisis, there have been severe consequences such as increased coastal flooding, melting glaciers, and long-term damage to marine animals. As if it couldn’t get any worse, recent studies have shown that global warming is causing a new and deadly phenomenon: killer mosquitoes.
The average mosquito may seem puny and harmless, but when grouped in enormous swarms, the mosquito has a much more threatening appearance. In fact, mosquito swarms may contain over one million individual insects, all with the intent to feast on flesh. These bloodthirsty groups of mosquitoes are particularly destructive to caribou, who are completely defenseless against the vicious insects. According to The Atlantic’s Ross Anderson, “[Mosquito swarms] are enough to harass a pregnant caribou until she stops worrying about food. And it’s enough to kill caribou calves outright.” Evidence also shows that even mature adults can be harmed by the brutal insects. Since killer mosquitoes are causing a decrease in the population of caribou, they are also indirectly affecting other organisms as the whole entire ecosystem is disrupted.
If the temperature of the earth continues to increase, the killer mosquitoes will become more rampant than ever. This is because warming causes mosquitoes to hatch ahead of schedule as well as an increased development rate of immature mosquitoes. Faster development and fewer days exposed to predators only means that more mosquitoes will survive into the adult stage and join the clouds of blood-sucking insects. This is bad news for the caribou, and ultimately bad news for the numerous organisms that depend on the caribou for survival. To care for the survival of these organisms, global warming must cease. If not, then killer mosquitoes could potentially turn the whole world into a terrible nightmare.
