Climate change is something that has had a developing effect on the world for many years, people think that the effects are minimal, when in fact, the whole situation creates a massive chain reaction on every single thing this planet holds. Pest control is something that is directly affected by climate change in a very real way, it has seen the increase in some dangerous species that carry threatening diseases, the increase has seen a rise in crop damage due to pest control issues, and in a less dangerous circumstances it has seen more and more pest control problems in the domestic home.
It is no surprise that pest control becomes a huge issue in relation to climate change and control, due to the fact that most pests thrive in warmer climates. This means that thanks to the increasing warmth of the planet, pests will have a wider range of options for breeding grounds, consequently leading to rising population in pests. Not only does warmer climates make ample breeding grounds, lots of pests grow bigger in warmer climates too, which results in resistance to pesticides. These large and wider spread breeding grounds, means that the survival rate during the winter months will rapidly increase as the issues continue.
Vector-borne infectious diseases, more commonly known as malaria, Zika virus and Lyme disease currently affects almost half of the world’s population, which has been increasingly causing international public health emergencies. The most recent outbreak of the Zika virus, spread mostly by mosquitoes during 2015-16, has been linked to global warming by the scientific community, which they refer to the cause being from high temperatures in the seasons prior to the outbreak.
The global temperature is currently predicted to increase by around 2 degrees in the next decade or two. Many studies have suggested that this will result in pests spreading to cooler climates over time, which will have drastic implications to public health and food production.
Here is an infographic from Rentokil to go into more depth on the effects…
Produced by Rentokil Steritech
