With summer quickly approaching, the weather is warmer, the daylight hours are longer, and everyone’s getting ready for the best time of the year. Most of us can’t wait to enjoy more free time and the fun summer activities we spend our school year looking forward to.
But summer unfortunately comes with a bit more than just endless fun. It brings… mosquitoes.
With warming climates, we’re seeing more mosquitoes than ever before; perfect summer memories are plagued by huge clouds of them. They are terrible bugs and serve no purpose other than to spread diseases and annoy people. Some might say they are important to the ecosystem, but, realistically, they only provide marginal amounts of food to some small animals who have lots of other options for dinner.
The world would be a better place without mosquitoes in it for countless reasons, but I’ll narrow it down to the top three:
- They’re everywhere.
Mosquitoes are disappointingly able to live in almost every single climate on earth, except for areas that are permanently frozen. This means we can’t escape them. They don’t just exist during the summer, they thrive in areas that are warm with lots of humidity, which is every summer day we’ve ever had in New England.
Even if you try to cool off with a nice day at the beach, the mosquitoes will be there too because they thrive on both freshwater and saltwater. Most species of mosquitoes even lay their eggs directly on the water or next to it.
Speaking of mosquito eggs, their numbers are rapidly increasing, according to the Center of Disease Control (CDC). The current worldwide mosquito population is about 110 trillion, with some estimates reaching quadrillions in the near future.
- They itch.
When a mosquito bites you, its saliva makes its way into your bloodstream. According to the Cleveland Clinic, your body registers it as an allergen, producing histamine and sending it to the site of the bite, which causes itching and redness. These bites can last up to a week or more, causing ceaseless irritation as you try to resist the urge to scratch them. The scratching doesn’t even help that much and can often aggravate the bites, making them last even longer.
What’s worse is that your bites could all be from the same mosquito, as they can bite up to five times before they get full. The more they bite, the more they thrive, your blood providing them vital nutrients like proteins and amino acids.
- They spread diseases.
However, a mosquito’s bite can cause more problems than just redness and swelling. Mosquitoes also spread many harmful diseases to people through their saliva. Some examples include Dengue, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, Malaria, West Nile, and Zika, all of which are fatal. Consequently, mosquitoes kill about 700,000 people every single year, as well as tons of livestock and other unsuspecting animals.
The itching, scratching, biting, and swatting have been ruining summers for years on end, and that’s why mosquitoes rightfully deserve the title of the worst part of summer.
