MPR News with Angela Davis

A warmer climate means mosquitoes, ticks and their diseases will thrive

Tick nymphs
Blacklegged tick nymphs crawled around in a test tube at an entomology lab at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. The ticks, which were sped up in the editing process to emphasize movement, are commonly referred to as deer ticks.
Jeffrey Thompson | MPR News

Longer summers and a warmer climate can create a breeding ground for ticks and mosquitoes, and help them spread diseases.       

Insect-borne illnesses from ticks and mosquitoes pose a real threat to human health. The most common ones are West Nile virus, Lyme disease, Zika virus and even malaria — which was recently discovered to have resurfaced in a few cases last month in Florida and Texas. 

A side by side of two bugs up close on human skin.
Insect-borne illnesses from ticks and mosquitoes pose a real threat to human health.
Getty Images iStockphoto and Erik Karits via Pexels | MPR News photo illustration

Minnesota’s climate once provided a short window of warm months for pests and their illnesses to thrive, but climate change is now having an impact on the state’s environment.      

MPR News host Angela Davis continues her series of conversations on the health implications of climate change. Angela and her guests will talk about the diseases that pests can carry, how they can make us sick and how climate change impacts the breeding ground and migration of these insects. 

Guests: 

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Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.