The Deadly Mosquito
Last Modified: 06/08/2020
(TED) A common flying insect is hated for its itchy bite and the diseases it carries.
- 1What's the worst bug on the planet?
- 2You might vote for the horsefly or perhaps the wasp,...
- 3...but for many people, the worst offender is by far the mosquito.
- 4The buzzing, the biting, the itching.
- 5The mosquito is one of the most commonly detested pests in the world.
- 6But it's not just that mosquitoes are annoying.
- 7They're also deadly.
- 8Mosquitoes can transmit everything from malaria to yellow fever,...
- 9...to West Nile virus to dengue.
- 10Over a million people worldwide die every year from mosquito-borne diseases.
- 11And that's just people.
- 12Horses, dogs, cats, they can all get diseases from mosquitoes too.
- 13So if these bugs are so dastardly, why don't we just get rid of them.
- 14We are humans after all and we're pretty good at getting rid of species.
- 15Well, it's not quite so simple.
- 16Getting rid of the mosquito removes a food source for lots of organisms,...
- 17...like frogs and fish and birds.
- 18Without them, plants will lose a pollener.
- 19But some scientists say that mosquitoes aren't actually all that important.
- 20If we got rid of them, they argue, another species would simply take their place.
- 21And we'd probably have far fewer deaths from malaria.
- 22The problem is that nobody knows what would happen if we killed off all the mosquitoes.
- 23Something better might take their spot or perhaps something even worse.
- 24The question is, are we willing to take that risk?
Powered by:
