Global Warming Spreading Pests Far and Wide According To Study

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Global Warming Spreading Pests Far and Wide According To Study

Posted by samzenpus on Monday September 2, 2013 @04:54AM from the bullet-ants-over-broadway dept.

An anonymous reader writes "New research has concluded that global warming is helping pests and diseases that attack crops to spread around the world. 'Researchers from the universities of Exeter and Oxford have found crop pests are moving at an average of two miles (3km) a year. The team said they were heading towards the north and south poles, and were establishing in areas that were once too cold for them to live in. The research is published in the journal Nature Climate Change.'"

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Re:frist pist by PPH · 2013-09-02 05:01 · Score: 4, Funny

First pest?

--
Have gnu, will travel.
Still want it? by GameboyRMH · 2013-09-02 05:06 · Score: 3, Insightful

I wonder if the selfish and short-sighted people who want global warming to continue because they live in areas that would benefit are still so enthusiastic...but I guess pests are as at least as easy to ignore as wars, refugees and food shortages.

--
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
1. Re:Still want it? by roc97007 · 2013-09-02 05:23 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Personally, I'm switching careers from IT to pest control.
  
  --
  Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
2. Re:Still want it? by professionalfurryele · 2013-09-02 05:26 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Mmmmm those cherries are so good, I see why you picked them:
  http://www.climate4you.com/GlobalTemperatures.htm#Global temperature trends
  Care to admit why you picked 10 years and not 15 or 20?
  If you grab a sample of 2 women and 2 men you may well find the women are taller, and you wont be able to say based on that sample if men or women are taller on average. But given 20 or 30 women and 20 or 30 men the answer becomes obvious.
3. Re:Still want it? by MightyMartian · 2013-09-02 05:29 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  In scientific circles, there is very little debate. This isn't a scientific debate, it's a PR debate instigated by fossil fuel companies. As to your last sentence, either you're wilfully lying, or you're an ignoramus.
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
4. Re:Still want it? by MightyMartian · 2013-09-02 05:35 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  It's hard to see such people as myth when monster international corporations and uber-rich guys like the Koch Brothers are very much behind a massive campaign to discredit AGW researchers. I can't say whether they want the climate to continue to warm. They could be more mundanely evil in not giving a sweet fuck what happens 50 or 100 years from now, so long as their net worth continues up in the short and medium term.
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
5. Re:Still want it? by wbr1 · 2013-09-02 05:36 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Personally, I'm switching careers from IT to pest control.
  It is an easy career change. You deal with bugs in both professions.
  
  --
  Silence is a state of mime.
6. Re:Still want it? by 0111+1110 · 2013-09-02 05:45 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  The majority of Americans and probably even American scientists believe in a supernatural all powerful entity for which there is no evidence at all. Just because a majority of people believe in something does not make it true.
  Evidence is what convinces me. Not opinion polls. Opinion polls are most definitely not a part of the scientific method. Once a large enough majority believes in a thing it becomes difficult for many people to disbelieve it. Just show me the raw data and I will draw my own conclusions. I don't need to be told what to think. Scientists are just as capable of being irrational as anyone else. Just because a scientist believes in a thing doesn't make it true.
  
  --
  Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
7. Re:Still want it? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 06:07 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  The more shrill the global warming crowd gets, the less people believe them. The more "scientists" engage in gloom and doom hyperbole in front of the press, the less public support they're going to get. Technology and human development is often at odds with the environment, but the real danger to humanity is politics, and "scientists" aren't free of it. BTW, there is quite a lot of debate in scientific circles. The ones who deny that aren't scientists. They're ideologues.
8. Re:Still want it? by MightyMartian · 2013-09-02 06:09 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  There is one single extra-Gospel source that Jesus existed, and that is Josephus. Once you strip away the 2nd and 3rd century "additions", what you get is basically "there was a Nazarene named Jesus who was a holy man and had a following, and who was put to death by the Romans."
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
9. Re:Still want it? by mcgrew · 2013-09-02 06:28 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  The majority of Americans and probably even American scientists believe in a supernatural all powerful entity for which there is no evidence at all.
  2.3 of the world's population and over half of all scientists.
  Evidence is what convinces me.
  There is no evidence I was in possession of marijuana -- It's gone. There is no evidence Jimmy Hoffa is dead, but I'm pretty sure he is. There is no evidence for extraterrestrial life, but I think there probably is.
  Absence of proof is not proof of absence.
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
10. Re:Still want it? by jovius · 2013-09-02 06:30 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Let's try this. Imagine if aliens started to pour carbon dioxide, methane and other gases to Earth's atmosphere. As you know from the elementary school Earth's greenhouse effect keeps the temps at a nice level. Greenhouse effect that has been known well over 100 years is actualized because of the called greenhouse gases, which trap heat to the lower layers of the atmosphere. So ask yourself this: what will happen when the amount of those gases is increased?
  Would you be welcoming the aliens who pour gases to the atmosphere? One effect of that would for example be that hugely larger areas of crops are threatened because of pests. Your very source of food is in danger.
  Wouldn't you be pretty sure who is responsible for the anomalously amplified greenhouse effect? I'd guess the media would be in full blast declaring a war against them. It's interesting why it isn't happening at the moment.
11. Re:Still want it? by Nimey · 2013-09-02 06:35 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Why, if you're investigating a scientific theory, would you both considering what Al Gore or the Koch Brothers had to say?
  Because it's not about science for the denialists, it's about tribalism and primate dominance.
  
  --
  Hail Eris, full of mischief...
  
  E pluribus sanguinem
12. Re:Still want it? by cusco · 2013-09-02 06:50 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Are you suggesting that the fossil fuel companies are headed by aliens? That would explain an awful lot . . .
  
  --
  "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
13. Re:Still want it? by lightknight · 2013-09-02 09:03 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_potato_beetle
  "The beetle was discovered in 1824 by Thomas Say from specimens collected in the Rocky Mountains on buffalo-bur, Solanum rostratum. The origin of the beetle is somewhat unclear, but it seems that Colorado and Mexico are a part of its native distribution in southwestern North America.[2] In about 1840, the species adopted the cultivated potato into its host range and it rapidly became a most destructive pest of potato crops. The large scale use of insecticides in agricultural crops effectively controlled the pest until it became resistant to DDT in the 1950s. Other pesticides have since been used but the insect has, over time, developed resistance to them all.[3]"
  So, when you stop patting yourself on the back for confirming your bias, you can spare a moment, and read up on one of the pests mentioned in that article. The Colorado Potato Beetle is immune to DDT (an achievement in of itself), as well as a number of other pesticides, which were holding it at bay. In other words, this thing used to destroy potato crops, and only by blanketing crops with pesticides did we slow it down some. It evolved...our pesticides have not; what more, I imagine many of the farmers in the affected areas have decided to ride the 'organic' cash cow, and not use any pesticide on their crops...thus ensuring that this pest won't even be slightly dinged by whatever extra proteins it has to manufacture to get around the poisons we normally spread on those crops; instead, it will grow fast...much faster.
  Global Warming had jack shit to do with this pest's rise...only the laziness of mankind let it reclaim ground. And I imagine that the other pests are, perhaps, due to similar, or other, explainable reasons. But I guess a little fact checking takes too much time these days...
  
  --
  I am John Hurt.
Why not, if other things can flourish also? by SuperKendall · 2013-09-02 05:11 · Score: 3, Insightful

This theory (that pests are moving farther north because it's no longer as cold) ALSO supports the idea that other things, like plants and animals can also be raised farther north because it is warmer.
If you think that's offset by some parts becoming too warm to support some crops and animals, then you must ALSO weigh that with the aspect that some pests will find it too warm and so there is some benefit. But since jungles grow everything in abundance it's pretty hard to argue that warming is not a net gain overall in terms of food production.
Basically, the fact that habitable zones increasing in size brings an expansion of everything that lives in those zones should not really be news to anyone, and you shouldn't be foolish enough to play up a very tiny negative aspect of it in a desperate grab to make other people fear the way you want them to.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
1. Re:Why not, if other things can flourish also? by pixelpusher220 · 2013-09-02 05:22 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  You're assuming the warming stops at 'habitable'...
  
  --
  People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
2. Re:Why not, if other things can flourish also? by MightyMartian · 2013-09-02 05:34 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  The problem here is that it seems rather likely that the habitable zones won't grow in size. Rather they will shift in latitude. There will be very real geopolitical ramifications to the North American and Eurasian growth zones jumping northward. Imagine the North American Grain Belt heading a few degrees north. All of a sudden, large areas currently under cultivation in the United States cease to arable, or at least cheaply arable. At the same time, Canada gains large amounts of arable land much farther north. In a few generations, you could see US food security compromised, with large amounts of the grain it needs suddenly in another sovereign country. The US will almost certainly be able to come to some accord with Canada, but other parts of the world may not be so lucky. A brief survey of historic and prehistoric migrations heavily suggests that people don't just sit on their asses and quietly die out when they can no longer get enough food and water.
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
3. Re:Why not, if other things can flourish also? by Arker · 2013-09-02 06:25 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  You're assuming the warming stops at 'habitable'...
  Hot-house earth isnt completely uninhabitable. The violent storms and extreme heat in the tropical zones would make them indoors-only and dangerous to travel in, but the polar regions and for instance high mountain areas further south would be quite habitable.
  
  --
  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
  Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
Pine beetle by blankinthefill · 2013-09-02 05:25 · Score: 4, Interesting

This is actually believed to be one of the main culprits of the explosion of pine beetle infestations in Colorado, as the beetle is now able to survive at higher altitudes than it was previously able to due to increased warming, which has allowed it to infest species of trees which have no natural defense against the pine beetle. This in turn has driven a huge increase in the amount of standing and fallen deadwood in mountainous forests, and is believed to be one of the reasons behind the dramatic increase in the severity of wildfires in those areas.
1. Re:Pine beetle by blankinthefill · 2013-09-02 05:57 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  That's why I said ONE of the reasons. The forestry techniques of the last century certainly increased the amount of deadwood and undergrowth. Anyone familiar with the forest situation in Colorado will tell you that the pine beetle is ALSO a huge contributor to the large increase of deadwood in mountainous forests there. The worrisome thing about the pine deadwood, though, is that it's very often standing deadwood, which, unlike living trees, torches easily along it's whole length. This can very easily carry a fire into the crowns of trees, killing them where they may have otherwise survived. No one is denying that what the article from a few days ago said is true. But the increase in deadwood because of the pine beetle hugely exacerbates that situation. With JUST the forestry techniques, or JUST the pine beetle, we would be seeing the increase in destructiveness that we saw 30 or 40 years ago. With both, we end up with the destructiveness we see today. (Note, YES, I know there are also other factors, such as overbuilding, poor building practices, and the proliferation of unintentional fire breaks. However, those are minor issues when you consider that, without the deadwood and undergrowth situation as it is today, those fires would likely not be the problem they are today.)
2. Re:Pine beetle by sribe · 2013-09-02 06:40 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  So no warming in the last 18 years is causing pine beetles to go to warmer areas that are not warmer?
  In this case, it's not average temps that matter. It's the lack of any sustained period of very low temps. The lowest lows are nowhere near historic norms in the past decade. Now why this is, I'm not going to debate here.
3. Re:Pine beetle by riverat1 · 2013-09-02 11:21 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  One thing that has exacerbated that is the length of the warm season has grown enough in some places that the pine beetles are now able to have two generations in a year which has the effect of increasing their numbers far beyond what was seen in the past.
Re:All roads leed to Rome/more goverment power by MightyMartian · 2013-09-02 05:37 · Score: 4, Insightful

I'm curious. Do you think the universe gives one sweet fuck about your political ideology. We can debate the scientific merits of these claims, but to attack them because they somehow collide with your political ideology is so fucking stupid I can only assume your either a moron or mentally ill.

--
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
I see it coming by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 05:44 · Score: 5, Funny

Personally, I'm switching careers from IT to pest control.
Future news:
"The pest control industry is lobbying Congress for an increase in H1-Bs for pest control engineers. Stating ' there isn't enough qualified Americans coming out of school.'"
On Slashdot we'll see: ' I've been interviewing pest control engineers for years now, and I can tell yo that getting qualified people is really difficult. We get people with years of experience who can't describe how the poisons work on the pest nervous system and they can't even give a balanced equation on the compound's creation!"
"Same here! Why one guy couldn't use the sprayer properly."
And there will be ads for:
'Pest Control Engineer. MUST have 5 years of experience with the Pest Sprayer 2020 v 1.43.233, 5 years experience with the Pest sounder 3.42.11, 5 years of programming experience of the pest control API for Windows, BS/MSPE, Able to program the pest control Robot'
And there will be the "We are a Silicon Valley start-up with a new and ground breaking company that is a social media pest control company with iPad apps. There's a huge shortage of qualified people here in SF!" on Slashdot.
1. Re:I see it coming by roc97007 · 2013-09-02 06:09 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  ...and then there will be the offshore pest control operators. "You are having receiving the package? Very good. Now kindly open the package and taking out the metal canister. Very good. Now kindly place the metal canister on the floor of your cubical. Very good. Now if you would please pull out the pin being on the top of the canister. Very good. Oh, you should probably run now. Please close the ticket at your earliest convenience, and being sure to fill out our survey. Hello?
  
  --
  Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Re:Pests by lightknight · 2013-09-02 08:46 · Score: 4, Insightful

Dr Bebber said: "The most convincing hypothesis is that global warming has caused this shift."
*facepalms* Allow me to translate: "We really like the idea that global warming is responsible for this shift; bear in mind that this is a hypothesis, not a theory, so it has not been tested or validated in even a casual sense."
Show me group think!

--
I am John Hurt.
Re:All roads leed to Rome/more goverment power by MightyMartian · 2013-09-02 09:36 · Score: 3, Insightful

Um, because they want to study climate? Oddly enough, people enter scientific fields to do science.

--
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Re:Generalized Hypothesis in a Generalized World by Genda · 2013-09-02 10:14 · Score: 3, Insightful

So first thing, there are no laws created by environmentalists... those would be legislators. The stupid you're impugning lives with folks who use environmental concerns exactly the same way the folks on the other side of the legislative fence use concerns about energy. Backroom deals with monied corporate interests getting stupid laws passed in their own interest that in fact exacerbate the issues in the real world, but make someone a lot of money. Real environmentalists appreciate that human beings are a inseparable part of the environment, and that ideas that force suffering or deprivation on vast populations would undermine ecological sanity on a global scale.
Technology is already beginning to provide huge opportunities to create environmentally sound alternatives to our current lifestyles, while at the same time giving us access to a world that is truly human compatible, even socially empowering. Agendas and dogmas are indications of people with ideologies to inflict on others, and these people seldom the source of workable solutions.
Re:Pests by Genda · 2013-09-02 10:33 · Score: 4, Insightful

That's not exactly correct, but it's really poor science to talk about an entire body of work involving thousands of separate research projects and researchers, in overly broad and general ways. Some work certainly has more rigor (and is therefore more authoritative) than others, and this news blurb talks about such a diverse population of pests (virii, viroids, bacteria, fungi, insects, nematodes... ad-infinitum) impacting everything from forest health to the growing occurrence of tropical fungal disease in humans occurring in temperate regions, that the trends spoken of here are a powerful indictment on issues of global climate change.. the average movement for pests (most thrive in warm climates) is about 3 km per years north and south (migration towards the poles.)
So at one level you're right, this could be gremlins herding trillion of lifeforms from dozens of different classes away from the equator, however watching these creatures move in lockstep with local changes in climate (and even micro climate), and watching what amounts to tropical conditions carry these lifeforms to places they've never been before, suggests that your observation, while humorous lacks a certain intellectual vision.