Global Warming Could Trigger Global Insect Boom

A rise in the Earth’s temperature could lead to an increase in the
number of insects worldwide, with potentially dire consequences
for humans, a new study suggests.

New research shows that insect species living in warmer areas are
more likely to undergo rapid population growth because they have
higher metabolic rates and reproduce more frequently.
The finding has scientists concerned that global warming could give
rise to more fast-growing insect populations and that we could see
a spike in the number of six-legged critters.

The consequences could be more serious than just a few extra bug
bites each summer.
“If they’re crop species, we could count on needing to use more
pesticides and it could be very costly,” said Melanie Frazier, a doc-
toral student at the University of Washington and lead author of the
study.

Insect-borne diseases are also a worry.
Malaria, Lyme Disease and a host of others rely on insect vectors
to spread among humans, and a swell in their populations could
mean more infections.

We won’t have to wait long to find out. Insects adapt quickly,
so we will likely see changes within our lifetime, Frazier says.


SOURCE:
LiveScience.com

Well, obviously it does'nt seem like the most disasterous thing to
be caused by Global Warming, but it is pretty bad, especially, as
was said, crop eating species grow a huge amount.
Not only would it cost the farms in the developed world more money,
it could destroy the smaller fragile crops in the undeveloped world.

And I'm not even going into the further spread of insect-carried
disease.


Comments, Opinions?

If the insects are going to be the so abundant,
then they will likely become a primary food source.

We gives me an idea:



...and I thought eating hoppers in survival training was bad.



[edit on 6-11-2006 by Regenmacher]

That truly would be horrible.

Atleast there a good source of protein though.

Reminds me of one of the plagues.

I've actually been noticing more bugs lately, but that may be because of winter (they are all sheltering inside).

Either way, at least we will have food when the fish die out.

This is definitely becoming more of a problem already. Here in the California mountains I won't need to use my wood-burning fireplace until after Thanksgiving, which is a first. We're also still having a lot of trouble with ants, which normally calm down by this time of year. And yesterday I started thinking about termites ... can you imagine the shot in the arm that global warming will give termites? Whoa.