Climate change has led to swarms of giant mosquitoes responsible for the death of baby reindeer

IF YOU didn’t already hate mosquitoes, you will after reading about how they are getting way more evil. The bastards.

Asian Tiger Mosquito

CLIMATE change has already been blamed for rising sea levels and droughts, but now it appears it has also led to swarms of giant mosquitoes responsible for the death of baby reindeer.

A mosquito begins its life as an egg in a pond before hatching into larvae and ultimately transforming into the flying bloodsucker we hate so much.

The speed with which this process happens is dictated by their sensitivity to temperature. Greenlandic mosquitoes won’t hatch until the water has been frozen and then warmed.

According to an ecologist studying mosquitoes in the dusty town of Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, this is where the problem lies.

British Arctic specialist Lauren Culler has discovered climate change has been causing mosquitoes to arrive much earlier in the year than normal.

“In the years when the ponds thaw and they heat up really quickly the mosquitoes go through their development faster which means there are fewer days to be eaten by a predator,” she told Motherboard.

“Lab studies, field studies and population models show that a warming climate means more mosquitoes survive until adulthood.”

As the mosquitoes reach adulthood, they go on the search for the blood meal they need to reproduce, however the location of Greenland means this is often easier said than done.

“My research here has found that only 12-15 per cent of mosquitoes ever get a blood meal,” she said.

This means when a meal does become available, the mosquitoes will swarm their victim hoping for a taste of its precious blood.

“They’re aggressive because they’re desperate,” she said.

While this is bad news for humans, it is even worse for the caribou (reindeer) migrating to the area to birth their calves.

In the past, the caribou would not be at risk from the mosquitoes because they would arrive before the little pests were born, however changes in the climate means this is no longer the case.

In order to escape the heavy presence of mosquitoes, the caribou seek refuge in environments free from the pests such as windy areas on top of glaciers.

However, Ms Culler points out these safe environments often lack many of the food sources the animals require to survive and, as a result, the calves die from malnourishment.

“Every moment that a caribou spends avoiding insects is another minute that they’re not doing what caribou need to do so that they can successfully raise calves,” she said.

While getting rid of the mosquitoes may seem like the easiest solution, Ms Culler said they are an important to the ecosystem and must stay.

So, for now there is no solution to the problem.