Question

Mosquitos are deadly & climate change is increasing the habitable areas for these flying insects.

Answer 1

The Environmental Protection Agency, a federal agency that protects the environment and human health, confirms that warmer temperatures accelerate mosquito development, biting rates, and the incubation of the Nile virus disease in mosquitoes. Additionally, the World Mosquito Program has reported that climate change has impacted weather patterns, causing more extreme droughts, heatwaves, and floods, which in turn creates ideal mosquito breeding grounds. This not only increases the reproduction rates, but also expands the area in which mosquitoes are able to live and reproduce. 

https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-west-nile-virus#:~:text=Studies%20show%20that%20warmer%20temperatures,the%20disease%20within%20a%20mosquito.

https://www.worldmosquitoprogram.org/en/news-stories/stories/explainer-how-climate-change-amplifying-mosquito-borne-diseases#

Comments

Although the link between mosquito proliferation and climate change is well established in your response, there are a few ways to expand on the analysis.

The first is that although the World Mosquito Program and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are very reliable sources, it would be useful to provide particular information or instances. How much, for example, has the expansion of mosquitoes' livable range in recent years been caused by rising temperatures? You may strengthen your point by providing specific figures or case studies (such as the expansion of dengue illness into formerly colder locations).

The second point is that while it is important to discuss weather patterns like droughts and floods, you should elaborate on how these extremes have distinct effects on mosquito populations. For instance, floods' stagnant water produces breeding grounds, while droughts can concentrate mosquito larvae in smaller bodies of water, increasing their chances of surviving.

In order to show balanced reasoning, you might choose to include a limitation or counterpoint. For example, urbanization and deforestation enhance the range and spread of illnesses carried by mosquitoes, but climate change is a significant contributor.

Your analysis is strong and well-supported overall. These points would be strengthened if they were elaborated upon with more specificity and subtlety! Well done!

Answer 2

The World Mosquito Program— a generally reputable source on the subject— explains that climate change is, in fact, increasing not only the "geographical range" of mosquitoes, but also extending the "mosquito season," as extreme climate patterns bolster the insect population's ability to breed in favorable conditions.

Comments

When citing a source it is importantly to be confident in it as the researcher. Using the term “generally reputable” suggests that it may not be credible. Upon further research into the source used to support this claim, I feel as though they just restate the claim and an example of HOW the mosquito season is extended due to climate change would be supportive.

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This is very straight-to-the point and you use appropriate citations. However, I think you could have gone into more detail about how exactly these citations strengthen your argument. It may also be better not to refer to your source as one that is "generally reputable," as it gives off the impression that it may not be reputable at all.

Answer 3

Based on my findings, this claim is correct. The Vector Disease Control International (VDCI) has a blog post explaining how climate control indeed will cause mosquitos to cover more land. In this post, they have a graphic shows the mosquito cover from 2019, and projected for 2050 and 2080. As the graphic switches in time, the land expands that mosquitos are inhabiting. The creators of the graphic, upon searching each name are credible, and range from a researcher at UF, professor at Yale, and more credible people.

https://www.vdci.net/blog/could-climate-change-be-causing-more-mosquitoes/#:~:text=Changes%20in%20temperature%2C%20precipitation%2C%20and,less%20favorable%20for%20mosquito%20breeding.

Answer 4

Though this claim is intriguing, the source of the information (a post on Bluesky) wasn’t highly reliable. To verify this claim, I started with a simple Google search that led me to information from the United Nations, National Library of Medicine, and a website that specializes in mosquitos (VDCI). This claim has two parts: the idea that mosquitoes are deadly and the idea that climate change is increasing their habitable areas. The first part is generally true, although too absolute. Not all mosquitoes are deadly, but the diseases that some mosquitoes carry can be deadly. The second claim needed more thorough research to confirm. The National Library of Medicine explains that “as temperatures are getting warmer, the range of disease-carrying mosquitoes is increasing” because the hotter temperatures make for quicker breeding, and increase the range of months they can breed in. This aligns with the original source’s claim. The United Nations website adds that increases in temperature, rainfall, and humidity can lead to malaria-carrying mosquitoes being able to live at higher altitudes, meaning their overall range is also increasing. VDCI confirms the claim once again when it describes that one of the outcomes of climate change is “the creation of more favorable conditions for mosquito populations to thrive.” In conclusion, the original claim was true, though it could have been edited for clarity/accuracy. 

United Nations website: https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/climate-change-and-malaria-complex-relationship#:~:text=An%20increase%20in%20temperature%2C%20rainfall,it%20was%20not%20reported%20earlier. 

National Library of Medicine website: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6747303/#:~:text=As%20the%20globe%20is%20continuously,year%2Dround%20in%20warm%20areas. 

VDCI website: https://www.vdci.net/blog/could-climate-change-be-causing-more-mosquitoes/#:~:text=Climate%20change%20affects%20ecosystems%20worldwide,cold%20for%20them%20to%20survive.

Comments

Really great job going through the nitty gritty and proving several reputable sources to back your claim. You provided a detailed criticism, specifically stating that there was truth to the original claim but that it used unreliable sources. Finding credible articles to strengthen one’s argument is crucial, especially in the modern digital era where misinformation runs rampant.

Answer 5

The CDC states that "The mosquito is the world's deadliest animal. Spreading diseases like malaria, dengue, West Nile, yellow fever, Zika, chikungunya, and lymphatic filariasis, the mosquito kills more people than any other creature in the world" (CDC). Other articles on the internet like one published by USAToday agreed stating that “Mosquitoes can transmit life-threatening diseases like malaria and dengue” (Mulroy). Mosquitoes can indeed be deadly because of the life-threatening diseases they carry.

When it comes to climate change causing habitable areas for mosquitoes to rise, I also found this true. Climate change is a broad term that describes the bad things happening to our planet. A specific example of this is global warming. Which is caused by large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Orkin, one of the leading companies in mosquito prevention states that "Hot, humid environments are most emendable to mosquito growth and survival" (Orkin). So it is true that climate change directly affects the spread of habitable areas for mosquitoes.

The author of the post is also a Climate Scientist and professor at the University of Hawai'i Manoa.

Sources:

David Ho (@davidho.bsky.social) — Bluesky

Where do Mosquitoes Live and Breed? | Mosquito Control | Orkin

Fighting the World's Deadliest Animal | Global Health | CDC

What animal kills the most humans? Here are the world's deadliest.

Answer 6

This claim is correct, as there has always been a link between warm climates and increased mosquito populations and other insects. The United Nations wrote about the relationship between climate change and malaria: "An increase in temperature, rainfall, and humidity may cause a proliferation of the malaria-carrying mosquitoes at higher altitudes, resulting in an increase in malaria transmission in areas in which it was not reported earlier." Meaning that with increasing warmed weather the areas in which mosquitos live will expand. The World Mosquito Program has also mentioned that: "As the planet warms and climate change lengthens the mosquito season, the world’s deadliest creature will expand its geographical range to new regions and re-emerge in areas where mosquito numbers had subsided for decades." This is an important issue as multiple resources are publishing more information about the increase in mosquitos.

Sources:

https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/climate-change-and-malaria-complex-relationship#:~:text=An%20increase%20in%20temperature%2C%20rainfall,it%20was%20not%20reported%20earlier

https://www.worldmosquitoprogram.org/en/news-stories/stories/explainer-how-climate-change-amplifying-mosquito-borne-diseases#

Answer 7

This claim is true. While I was unable to find the original source of the post, according to the National Institute of Health, climate change has led to warmer temperatures which has increased the habitable areas for mosquitos. Climate change has also lead to extreme weather phenomena like hurricanes, flooding, and storms which are favorable conditions for mosquitos. Similarly, warmer climates increase the reproduction and hatching rates of mosquitos. Countless other organizations have stated similar findings surrounding climate change and mosquito habitation. As stated by the World Mosquito Program, mosquitos are responsible for the death of more than one million individuals per year, making the claim that they are deadly true.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6747303/#:~:text=As%20the%20globe%20is%20continuously,year%2Dround%20in%20warm%20areas.

https://www.worldmosquitoprogram.org/en/news-stories/stories/explainer-how-climate-change-amplifying-mosquito-borne-diseases

Answer 8

This claim has two different parts, both of which are true. The first part of the claim that "Mosquitoes are deadly" is a valid statement, as seen through the CDC saying that the world's deadliest animal is the mosquito, killing more people than other animals through their ability to spread disease. The other part of the claim that "climate change is increasing the habitable areas for these flying insects" is also true, as seen from the Los Alamitos National Laboratory. Their article showed that six of the nine species of mosquitoes they tested are expected to "expand in geographical range." 

CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/global-health/impact/fighting-the-worlds-deadliest-animal.html

Los Alamitos Laboratory: https://www.lanl.gov/media/news/0508-mosquitoes