Range Expansion of Insect Vectors due to Climate Change | Biomedgrid

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] has attributed 1 oC of global warming since the Industrial Revolution to anthropogenic causes, 0.5oC of which occurred since the 1970s. The IPCC also projects that the world is likely to be an additional 1.5oC hotter in just a few decades given the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions [1] . Above a 2oC increase in mean global temperatures, the results will be catastrophic and likely irreversible [2] . The increase in global temperatures will cause natural disasters to become more frequent and severe, ecosystems to be destroyed, and forever alter the climate of certain regions around the globe [3, 4, [5, 6]. An oft-overlooked consequence of a warmer planet is the range expansion of many insect vectors and, more importantly, their plethora of associated diseases. Many diseases will become more prevalent if global warming continues and breach areas previously considered to be safe from harm. Consider the dramatic effects of increases in the range of the common mosquito, Aedes aegypti, and the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus. By the end of this century, almost a billion people will be newly exposed to these mosquitoes and their associated diseases [7] .