Climate crisis: Europe is a breeding ground for disease-spreading mosquitoes due to rising temperatures – Joop

Today

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Mosquito-borne diseases are on the rise around the world, especially in Europe, as a direct result of the climate crisis. Experts warn about this. This concerns diseases such as malaria and dengue, also known as dengue fever. These conditions previously occurred almost exclusively in tropical and subtropical areas.

The Northern Hemisphere was previously not fertile ground for the disease-spreading mosquitoes. This is due to the longer periods of frost that kill the mosquito larvae and eggs at night. Because the warmer periods last significantly longer in the north, and especially in Europe, mosquitoes now have an ideal climate in which they thrive.

The Asian tiger mosquito used to be rare in Europe, but is now an established species in no fewer than thirteen countries: Italy, France, Spain, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Greece and Portugal. The mosquito has been “introduced” in the Netherlands, which means that the mosquito is found here, but so far sporadically. Now that temperatures are also rising in the Netherlands, there is a good chance that the tiger mosquito will also settle here.

What makes the dangers to European public health great is that the mosquito is still considered an exotic species here and the population has no immunity to the diseases it carries.

The spread of mosquitoes throughout the world is clearly reflected in the infection figures. The number of cases of dengue known to the World Health Organization (WHO) has increased eightfold in the past twenty years, from 500,000 cases in 2000 to more than 5 million. 2019. The climate crisis is expected to reach 4.7 billion people living in areas affected by mosquito-borne diseases by the end of this century.