Akureyri, Iceland
Iceland’s unique climate keeps the country free of mosquitoes-but global warming can open the door.
Yes, there is a country without mosquitoes: Iceland. While their neighbors – including Norway, Scotland, and Gronelândia – houses various species of mosquitoes, the island nation remains free from them.
A little more north, Antarctica also has no mosquitoes, but the southern continent is not a country.
Then, how is it possible That Iceland has no mosquitoes? Scientists have several theories.
One hypothesis is that mosquitoes simply haven’t arrived yet to Iceland. The island country is separated from all its neighbors by hundreds of kilometers of oceanwhich creates a natural barrier that makes mosquitoes difficult to arrive.
However, mosquitoes can be transported on airplanes. That’s right confirmed Gísli Már GíslasonProfessor of Limnology (The Study of Lakes and Sweet Waters) at the University of Iceland, after capturing one of these insects on a flight from Gronelândia to Iceland.
Mosquitoes can also Survive for hours on the landing train From aircraft, even at negative temperatures, Gíslason explained in 2017 in an interview with.
If the mosquitoes have arrived, why did not establish populations?
Segundo Gíslason, Reason is not the absence of appropriate habitats for reproduction. Iceland has many Lagoas and Pantanos Near the airports – places ideal for mosquitoes to lay eggs. The most likely explanation will be the strict climate of the country.
O a mosquito life cycle has four phases: egg, larva, pupa (similar to a butterfly chrysalis) and adult. Adults place eggs in water, they hatch in larvae, which develop in pupae, from which the adult mosquito emerges.
Robert Jones, Biologist specializing in insects and assistant teacher at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, explained to what the mosquito larvae need liquid and non -cold water to develop.
In extremely cold regions, such as the Canadian Arctic, some species of mosquitoes survive in numbness in the egg phasebeing able to support months in frozen waters.
“In warmer areas, such as parts of central Europe, mosquitoes can survive winter as eggs or relatively sheltered water masses that do not freeze, or as adults hidden in burrows and other protected places, ”details Jones.
O Iceland climate is located at an intermediate point: Long winters and frequent freezing and defrosting cycles in autumn and spring make water masses freeze, melt and freeze repeatedly.
“These cycles interrupt development and kill eggs And mosquito larvae before they can emerge as adults, making the establishment of populations much more difficult, ”explains Jones.
Although Geothermal lagoons of Iceland do not freeze in winter, their temperatures can be too high for the larvae of any kind of mosquito adapted to high latitudes. “In addition, chemical composition Geothermal waters will hardly be suitable for mosquito development, ”adds the investigator.
However, with the climate changethe situation of Iceland as a free zone of mosquitoes may not last forever. Jones points out that warmer spring and falls can create longer periods of standing water not cold, allowing the establishment of permanent populations.
Immo HansenProfessor of Biology at New Mexico State University, agrees. “We are currently observing tropical mosquitoes to expand its territory To the north in the United States, ”he told Live Science, especially due to the warming of winters in this region.
If mosquitoes eventually spread to Iceland, It will not be the first time that a free zone of these insects disappears.
O Hawaii, the most isolated archipelago in the worldhe was free of mosquitoes until 1826, the year when European and American ships introduced them inadvertently.
Thanks to the favorable climate, the mosquitoes prospered and spread quickly through the islands. Since then, climate change has pushed mosquitoes into higher altitude forests, which were once too cold for their survival.
Although the possibility of mosquitoes reaching Iceland, the risk of disease -transmitting species, such as gender Aedesresponsible for diseases such as Dengue Ea Chikungunyaif they are established in the country remains low, as these insects need tropical and subtropical climates to survive.
While southern Europe faces increasing risks of outbreaks Due to climate change and modern transport, projection models suggest that northern Europe will remain largely inappropriate Dengue transmission, even in 2080, concludes Robert Jones.
