Climate change is making winters warmer, creating ideal conditions for pests like cockroaches, rats, and mosquitoes to thrive in new geographical areas.
Experts predict that one-third of the Earth’s plant and animal species, including millions of species, could disappear by 2050 if current greenhouse gas emission levels continue. While some species have already gone extinct, many others are resilient to temperature changes and habitat disruptions. Some species not only survive but also thrive in a warming world, according to Business Insider.
Climate change indicates that many species may benefit from changing environmental conditions, expanding their habitats into new geographical areas that were once inhospitable to them, according to Giovanni Strona, an ecological researcher at the European Union’s Joint Research Centre. Most of these climate change winners are resilient scavengers that reproduce quickly and thrive in urban environments. Some are considered pests that pose threats to human health.
Cockroaches
Cockroaches have evolved to survive for hundreds of millions of years. (Photo: iStock).
Cockroaches are the worst enemies of city dwellers. This hard-to-eradicate insect can live in every nook and cranny of urban environments, from subway tunnels to high-rise apartments. Once cockroaches appear, getting rid of them is extremely difficult. This is because they have evolved to become one of the hardiest creatures on Earth. This ancient arthropod has existed for over 300 million years, surviving every challenge it has faced. They even survived the mass extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period, which wiped out 80% of the Earth’s species.
Cockroaches have withstood extreme environmental changes, including climate change. They prefer warm, humid conditions and can survive temperatures up to 48.9 degrees Celsius. Additionally, cockroaches can live for a month without food and a week without water. They are not picky eaters. These traits and their long history of survival lead scientists to believe that cockroaches can thrive in a warming world, possibly outliving humans.
Rats
Rats reproduce quickly and in large numbers throughout the year. (Photo: iStock).
Like cockroaches, rats can eat almost anything and can live just about anywhere. But the real secret behind their resilience is their adaptability. Rats reproduce in large numbers. They breed year-round, producing about six litters each year. The average size of a litter ranges from 8 to 18 young, meaning a female rat can give birth to up to 108 offspring in a year.
Thanks to their rapid reproduction, rats evolve much faster than many other mammals, adapting to changes in their environment or climate quickly and efficiently. The high number of offspring means that rats can maintain large populations. Therefore, when challenges arise, at least some individuals are likely to survive.
Studies show that rising global temperatures help rats reproduce more easily. As winters become warmer, fewer rats die from the cold weather, and more rats breed year-round. The rat population in New York has increased by nearly a million in the past decade, according to estimates from 2023 by M&M Pest Control. Rats can transmit dangerous diseases to humans, such as Hantavirus, leptospirosis, and salmonella. If they thrive in a warming world, the risk of these diseases spreading increases.
Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes are vectors for dangerous diseases like malaria, dengue fever, and Zika. (Photo: iiievgeniy)
Mosquitoes are also common disease vectors around the world. These tiny blood-sucking insects can carry a range of viruses and parasites, including malaria, dengue fever, and Zika. When transmitted to humans, these diseases can be fatal. Every year, over one million people worldwide die from mosquito-borne diseases.
The most common mosquito-borne diseases occur in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. This is because mosquitoes thrive in warm, humid climates. However, climate change is increasing temperatures and altering rainfall patterns, expanding their habitats into new geographical areas. For example, a disease-carrying mosquito species from South America appeared in Florida in 2021.
Moreover, research indicates that rising temperatures can accelerate mosquito development, biting rates, and the incubation periods of diseases within them. This means that climate change could enable mosquito-borne diseases to spread to new locations and increase the number of cases worldwide. In 2023, Florida and Texas reported their first locally transmitted malaria cases in 20 years. In Europe, dengue fever cases surged in 2022, primarily due to heatwaves and flooding.
