4 ms·

Similar to how Lyme disease has spread to ticks over most of the USA because climate change has expanded the viable range, one is still more likely to get expos

Similar to how Lyme disease has spread to ticks over most of the USA because climate change has expanded the viable range, one is still more likely to get exposed to it in the original area of the Northeast but it's now found in ticks spread over the country, and this is true in other countries as well.

jessaustin 8y ago
It's interesting that warming would make it easier for ticks from the Northeast to travel south. Or, alternatively, for Borrelia bacteria to do the same, since I have it on good authority that the South has had ticks for a long time. It almost explains too much.
- dmichulke 8y ago
  I'll translate because it's interesting and was not immediately obvious (to me) The south had ticks before (global warming), yet no (few?) Borrelia bacteria. Therefore there is no indication other than a timely coincidence that global warming is responsible for Borrelia bacteria appearing more frequently in the south.
  - acqq 8y ago
    > there is no indication other than a timely coincidence that global warming is responsible for Borrelia bacteria But that still doesn't disprove AGW as the cause of the spread of the ticks! Once you have the ticks there where they weren't before, something as simple as bacteria can infect them easier.
    - acqq 8y ago
      I don't see it any different than malaria, caused by plasmodium and also a serious health problem in some parts of the world ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria ): not all mosquitoes carry malaria, but the only way to eradicate malaria in some area is to manage to not have mosquitoes there, it's known since approximately the end of the 19th century, and still true. And the spreading of malaria has also different dynamics from the spreading of all of mosquitoes. So yes, the changes in environment that make for the insects to easy to spread in the areas where they couldn't before is something that should concern the humans, especially if there is a proof that humans helped the spread.
  - stevenwoo 8y ago
    There were articles last year that did not reference coincidence, but expanded range of the carriers for the bacteria. The first story is interesting because there's a bit about the scientists who are trying to disrupt the lifecycle of the bacteria on a small scale to find a solution. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lyme-disease-is-spreading-and-its-partly-this-mouses-fault/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lyme-disease-is-spreadi... https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/why-you-need-to-know-about-mice-ticks-warm-temperatures-and-lyme-disease/2017/06/16/cd7a4ab8-4aef-11e7-9669-250d0b15f83b_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/why-y...

jessaustin 8y ago

It's interesting that warming would make it easier for ticks from the Northeast to travel south. Or, alternatively, for Borrelia bacteria to do the same, since I have it on good authority that the South has had ticks for a long time. It almost explains too much.

dmichulke 8y ago
I'll translate because it's interesting and was not immediately obvious (to me) The south had ticks before (global warming), yet no (few?) Borrelia bacteria. Therefore there is no indication other than a timely coincidence that global warming is responsible for Borrelia bacteria appearing more frequently in the south.
- acqq 8y ago
  > there is no indication other than a timely coincidence that global warming is responsible for Borrelia bacteria But that still doesn't disprove AGW as the cause of the spread of the ticks! Once you have the ticks there where they weren't before, something as simple as bacteria can infect them easier.
  - acqq 8y ago
    I don't see it any different than malaria, caused by plasmodium and also a serious health problem in some parts of the world ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria ): not all mosquitoes carry malaria, but the only way to eradicate malaria in some area is to manage to not have mosquitoes there, it's known since approximately the end of the 19th century, and still true. And the spreading of malaria has also different dynamics from the spreading of all of mosquitoes. So yes, the changes in environment that make for the insects to easy to spread in the areas where they couldn't before is something that should concern the humans, especially if there is a proof that humans helped the spread.
- stevenwoo 8y ago
  There were articles last year that did not reference coincidence, but expanded range of the carriers for the bacteria. The first story is interesting because there's a bit about the scientists who are trying to disrupt the lifecycle of the bacteria on a small scale to find a solution. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lyme-disease-is-spreading-and-its-partly-this-mouses-fault/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lyme-disease-is-spreadi... https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/why-you-need-to-know-about-mice-ticks-warm-temperatures-and-lyme-disease/2017/06/16/cd7a4ab8-4aef-11e7-9669-250d0b15f83b_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/why-y...