Iceland reports the presence of mosquitoes as climate warms(npr.org)
npr.org
Iceland reports the presence of mosquitoes as climate warms
https://www.npr.org/2025/10/22/nx-s1-5582748/iceland-mosquitoes-first-time
69 comments
Climate has absolutely nothing to do with this discovery. All of the other Northern countries, many of which are colder than Iceland, already have mosquitoes (Greenland has lots of them!). Culiseta annulata is well adapted to cold climate. And it's not even particularly cold in Iceland at this time of year – the mosquitoes may not even have needed to survive a winter yet!
> Climate has absolutely nothing to do with this discovery
That’s difficult to conclude. It could have everything to do with warming North Atlantic ocean winds. Where they were previously deadly to mosquitoes, now they might not be.
We have insufficient evidence either way. The article is wrong conclude as it did. But it’s equally wrong to conclude based on their mistake that the opposite is true.
That’s difficult to conclude. It could have everything to do with warming North Atlantic ocean winds. Where they were previously deadly to mosquitoes, now they might not be.
We have insufficient evidence either way. The article is wrong conclude as it did. But it’s equally wrong to conclude based on their mistake that the opposite is true.
No it's really not. Northern Canada is infested with mosquitos and it's one of the coldest climates on earth. This has nothing to do with global warming.
Mosquito-heavy regions of northern Canada are actually warmer than Iceland in summer. Iceland averages 10-15°C (50-59°F) in July, but Canada’s boreal forest regions where mosquitoes thrive regularly see temperatures of 20-25°C (68-77°F) in the summer.
The Muskeg of northern Manitoba does not have an average July temperature of 25 lol
30 is considered an exceptionally hot day in most places
Isn't it that northern Syberia is super cold in winter and infested with mosquitoes in summer?
It's also quite hot in summer, being deep within the continent. Yakutsk can break +30 quite easily.
Baffin island has a July average of 12 degrees centigrade and it's crawling with mosquitos. Highly recommend confronting your biases.
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Strange, when I was in Iceland it was interesting to see that there were literally zero flying/ground insects around.
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I’m surprised they didn’t already have them. They’re a plague in central and northern Alaska due to the permafrost creating standing water.
Mosquitos are adapted to long, cold winters and they're also extremely common just over the water in Greenland. Mosquitos have had literally centuries of opportunity to colonize it. They've simply failed every time.
What I've always been told is that Icelandic winter danced around the freezing point enough that mosquitos weren't able to overwinter effectively. The larvae would hatch prematurely thinking it was spring and be killed by another freeze before they could get a foothold.
That hypothesis relies on a pretty careful climatic balance though. Clearly it's hit a point where some parts of the country can now support endemic populations. My wife swears she was attacked by them when I took her to meet my grandparents a couple years ago, which I was quite resistant to believing at the time vs the similarly annoying midges. Maybe she was right?
What I've always been told is that Icelandic winter danced around the freezing point enough that mosquitos weren't able to overwinter effectively. The larvae would hatch prematurely thinking it was spring and be killed by another freeze before they could get a foothold.
That hypothesis relies on a pretty careful climatic balance though. Clearly it's hit a point where some parts of the country can now support endemic populations. My wife swears she was attacked by them when I took her to meet my grandparents a couple years ago, which I was quite resistant to believing at the time vs the similarly annoying midges. Maybe she was right?
>The larvae would hatch prematurely thinking it was spring and be killed by another freeze before they could get a foothold.
This happens in Minnesota which can have really intense mosquito seasons. If you have a few very warm early spring days followed by a good freeze, especially if this happens a few times, you'll have a year with barely any mosquitos instead of swarms.
This happens in Minnesota which can have really intense mosquito seasons. If you have a few very warm early spring days followed by a good freeze, especially if this happens a few times, you'll have a year with barely any mosquitos instead of swarms.
And those are wonderful years, when they happen. At least in my location, the deer flies tend to take their place on those years, unfortunately.
this. i dont really believe it has to do with climate change. Is it a change in precipitation?
would a change in precipitation over historical averages not count as 'climate change' ? could we even say perhaps the whole globe is warming?
If this follows the "with vs. of COVID" thing, we're going to get "No, it's not climate change, it's change that which is climatic" here pretty soon.
Are you saying with vs of covid was not a significant distinction?
When I was a kid in the 1980's I had a classmate from Iceland who was very smug about them not having mosquitoes there.
The Nordic varieties of mosquito are not known to carry any diseases, but the sting itches. Authorities in these countries sometimes poison wetlands where mosquito populations would otherwise grow large enough to become a public nuisance in summer.
The Nordic varieties of mosquito are not known to carry any diseases, but the sting itches. Authorities in these countries sometimes poison wetlands where mosquito populations would otherwise grow large enough to become a public nuisance in summer.
Curious, aside from people who are immune or whatever, does any type of mosquito bite not itch?
Some mosquitoes just itch way less, to the point where it isn’t really noticeable
I have no basis for this, but I think this is also based on personal genetics or similar. Most of the bites I get seem to create no bumps or itchiness at all. When i was a kid, that wasn't the same, but now in my late 30s it seems to no phase me.
It's not completely true that the mosquitos don't carry things here. We do have something called Tularemia [1] (Harpest). Also it seems the first mosquitos for the season are more potent that later during the year.
And for personal anecdotal evidence, my wife gets more problems with mosquitos here than I do. When we visit her home country I get more problems than she does.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tularemia
And for personal anecdotal evidence, my wife gets more problems with mosquitos here than I do. When we visit her home country I get more problems than she does.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tularemia
Your immune system learns not to freak out at them, I believe. Every kid I’ve known gets large bumps when they get a bite, though some certainly get worse bumps than others.
Condolences Iceland, in the words of the late great Joe Dassin - "No me moleste mosquito, retourne chez toi"[0]
[0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2uH96a3RP0
[0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2uH96a3RP0
> does any type of mosquito bite not itch?
Apparently they don’t once your immune system gets used to them. But this usually takes lots of exposure when young.
Apparently they don’t once your immune system gets used to them. But this usually takes lots of exposure when young.
Unfortunately it looks like the Aedes aegypti has started to show up in Finland the past year, and this year in Sweden.
It's the species that carries Dengue, Chikungunya, and many other diseases.
It's the species that carries Dengue, Chikungunya, and many other diseases.
While climate change is a reality, backed by multiple metric tons of hard science, it is unclear if these three mosquitos were genuinely colonizers due to it or if they had simply been transported over by a foreign cargo vessel at the aluminum smelter nearby to where the mosquitos were discovered.
I guess time will tell.
I guess time will tell.
Three in his garden. Unless they are a travel group there are actually more
I’m sorry Iceland. :( Mosquitoes are the absolute worst. I have to cover myself in picaridin anytime I go outside in the summer where I live. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
I needed my wife's help lugging a TV into my house from the sidewalk to the living room a few weeks ago. She wasn't out even fifteen minutes, and she got at least twenty separate mosquito bites on her legs.
For whatever reason, mosquitos almost never bite me. I don't know if it's just because I'm pretty hairy, or if I have the gene that makes me less appealing to them, but I am thankful every day that I don't have to deal with it.
For whatever reason, mosquitos almost never bite me. I don't know if it's just because I'm pretty hairy, or if I have the gene that makes me less appealing to them, but I am thankful every day that I don't have to deal with it.
They never sting me or land on me. My friends hate me as when on trips, they get attacked all the time and have spray and smear all kinds of crap on them, while I have nothing. Never had. Not sure how it works.
I have gotten mosquito bites as a kid, so it's not a foreign thing to me, but I'm not sure I've had one in the last twenty years.
I'll consider myself lucky.
I'll consider myself lucky.
LMK when it gets bad enough that you feel a mosquito biting your leg and slap it, and you end up killing twenty of the little buggers and blood all over your hand.
But seriously, mozzies suck and I hope it's not Iceland's future. On the other side of the world here, in some parts it is getting too hot and dry for much in the way of mozzies. Not sure if that is a good thing either though.
But seriously, mozzies suck and I hope it's not Iceland's future. On the other side of the world here, in some parts it is getting too hot and dry for much in the way of mozzies. Not sure if that is a good thing either though.
I feel the pain. On a camping trip on the banks of the Mississippi one year, my son and his family slept overnight in his minivan, with just the rear window "wings" cracked open slightly for air. In the morning, we found out that he had battled hundreds of mosquitoes that found their way in during the night. There were blood splats EVERYWHERE on the fabric headliner and walls. Looked like a war zone.
My record is 51 with one slap of the hand.
That camping trip suuuuuuucked
That camping trip suuuuuuucked
Vey likely human introduction. Far from being an isolated case: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64446-3
does Iceland have large warm blooded mammals (not humans)? an American hunter once told that that for mosquitos to be a problem for humans, there's needs to be a baseline diet for them of large bloody creatures for them to snack on, to generate large numbers of them. So, in North America this generally would mean that if you have lots of deer in the woods, you'll encounter lots of mosquitos.
since I learned that I've noticed it seems to be true.
since I learned that I've noticed it seems to be true.
He caught one and knew it was a female? This was not his first encounter I guess :)
They found a mosquito from a plane and it's because of global warming? Seems like it's actually because of global travel.
And before you lose your shit just think about it. Would me bringing a penguin to central America on a plane be evidence of global cooling?
And before you lose your shit just think about it. Would me bringing a penguin to central America on a plane be evidence of global cooling?
Did you even read the article? Let me spell it out for you : it's the concern that they can survive Iceland not the red herring you are trying to argue.
Let me spell it out for YOU. Mosquitos are millions of years old and well adapted to all environments including the arctic. They cannot, however, fly across oceans very well.
iceland is a weird place. its basically a city
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This garbage article is a great example of why NPR taxpayer funding should never be restored. Ridiculous, unsubstantiated claim here. No evidence whatsoever of any link to climate change is presented. These mosquitoes came via ship and are thus like any other invasive species. Mosquitoes flourish in Siberia, Greenland, Canada, and the northernmost parts of Alaska, all places hundreds of miles north of the Arctic circle.
If you read the source article, it mentions in passing at the end that Iceland in general has seen more insects lately, partly due to climate change. It doesn't connect the mosquitos themselves to climate change. But the NPR article does indeed incorrectly connect the two. "taxpayer funding should never be restored" seems a bit of a histrionic reaction to this sloppy reporting, however.
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There’s probably been a constant flow of mosquitoes to Iceland via trade for decades, but they weren’t able to establish before. You’re right though, the article could have done better showing the link.
They're just reporting what the institute said. You sound very angry.
>The institute noted that the mosquitoes were one of a number of new insect species discovered in Iceland in recent years due to a warming climate and the growth of international transportation.
>The institute noted that the mosquitoes were one of a number of new insect species discovered in Iceland in recent years due to a warming climate and the growth of international transportation.
It's normal to get angry at lies and propaganda
So you're a climate change denier, or what?
That's what you read out of my comment?
In short, no. But this article is absolutely not evidence of it.
In short, no. But this article is absolutely not evidence of it.
Not sure what to read out of your comment, hence the question. You just appear super-angry at "lies and propaganda", which the linked article is neither/nor.
Well here's one way to think about it.
When the media or even scientists stretch out facts to support a thesis they don't actually support, they directly undermine the believability of that thesis to the general public. In a world cooking itself, that's probably not the greatest strategy. They do it so often it sometimes makes me wonder if that's not the true intent.
When the media or even scientists stretch out facts to support a thesis they don't actually support, they directly undermine the believability of that thesis to the general public. In a world cooking itself, that's probably not the greatest strategy. They do it so often it sometimes makes me wonder if that's not the true intent.
Well obviously they didn’t spontaneously manifest there and were imported somehow. But perhaps they are gaining a foothold know when they might lot have 100 years ago?
Like Jesus before him: they hated him, for he told them the truth.
Who needs evidence when there’s a good narrative to sell? The addicted crowd will clap on cue.
It's saddening that a community as self-assured of its own intellect as HackerNews would still be debating Climate Change
I guess you both grew up really enjoying that one episode of South Park and just can't let go?
I guess you both grew up really enjoying that one episode of South Park and just can't let go?
What’s more saddening is seeing intellectually curious people who can’t recognize their own biases.
It’s troubling how many accept this half-baked story without questioning the shaky correlations it draws.
It’s similar to what happened when the Maui wildfire started, many people, and more worryingly, journalists, were quick to blame climate change in their initial reports. That narrative turned out to be inaccurate.
In fact, scientific studies (including those published in the International Journal of Wildland Fire) show that most wildfires are actually caused by human activity. But people love sharing headlines that reinforce their existing biases, even when the facts tell a different story.
It’s troubling how many accept this half-baked story without questioning the shaky correlations it draws.
It’s similar to what happened when the Maui wildfire started, many people, and more worryingly, journalists, were quick to blame climate change in their initial reports. That narrative turned out to be inaccurate.
In fact, scientific studies (including those published in the International Journal of Wildland Fire) show that most wildfires are actually caused by human activity. But people love sharing headlines that reinforce their existing biases, even when the facts tell a different story.
There were similar such comments during Covid where people were saddened that people were still debating whether it was a lab-leak or not. Dogmatism, on which ever side, unless maybe in a field like mathematics which is entirely deductive, is not good.
Sting ?? They bite, and given a chance will engorge on one's blood. Pretty sure they came after Adam's bite, so I guess as a form of Eden-ruining punishment that makes sense.
The punishment is labour.