this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2024
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It's a nice idea. But I wonder what the long term ramifications might be. What ripple effects might happen that we can't see today that end up being problems in the future.
Human history is littered with such problems.
There have been extensive studies done on the topic already, the planet does not need mosquitos.
https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/what-if/what-if-mosquitoes-went-extinct.htm
https://www.nicd.ac.za/what-would-happen-if-all-the-mosquitoes-in-the-world-disappeared/
The science is not really settled yet.
There are non-biting mosquitoes. Those would just fill the same ecological niche.
Yes I know. And maybe those studies are fully correct. I certainly have no way to cross check them. So you and I must take them at face value.
But even science will tell you that you should have at least some skepticism of such studies. Because it always seems like we miss some tiny important detail that only reveals it's self later as we refine our knowledge on a subject.
I am all for eradicating the mosquito pest but there is no way a study is going to cover all possible impacts of removing them from existence. Anyone claiming to do so is just drunk on hubris.
The amount of ecologically horrifying acts that our species has already done, I'd be willing to add "got rid of mosquitos" to the pile.
If you're fine with the risk of a possible ecological disaster, then kill them all off. But remember, killing all the wolves was also thought to be a great idea at one time. Fortunately, we weren't able to achieve that goal before discovering we were wrong. Such decisions are final and can't be undone if they go wrong.
The hubris is in the idea, that with such a long human track record of being wrong about such things, is executing a such total and final idea is the right thing to do. But go ahead and do it. I'll be safely dead when the error might be discovered.