Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

slate.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 441 posts

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#61

Post by bradstewart »

DougWebb wrote: post #35
pkaye wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps do a pilot test in a limited area and see the impact?

If I recall correctly, that was done in Panama by the canal builders; one of the reasons they were successful was because they wiped out mosquitoes in the region, and protected the workers from malaria. Their method was to put a bit of gasoline in all of the swamps. The thin layer of gas on the water surface killed the larvae. It probably caused lots of other environmental damage too though, so a different approach w…

A similar tactic was used in Cuba and New Orleans to combat yellow fever. [1] They used a layer of oil rather than gasoline though.

[1] http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/yellowfever/new_strategies/

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#62

Post by Turing_Machine »

joekrill wrote: post #30
lifeformed wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There will be side effects, but could it really be worse than the alternative? That is, one million deaths per year.

They very well could be. That's just it -- we don't know. And when we kill them all off, are we going to be able to reverse it when we find out that the result is causing two million deaths per year?

Despite the link-bait headline, no one is talking about killing off all mosquitos.

And yes, gene drives can be reversed.

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#65

Post by ommunist »

llamaimperative wrote: post #40
hellbanner wrote: post #7

On reddit, I remember seeing something like "Research assures government that killing mosquitos would have no negative effect on world ecology"... right above another thread titled "Scientists underestimate ecological impact of species destruction"... Do we actually understand Mosquitos role in the planet's eco system?

No, but that isn't even the million dollar question because the answer will never be "yes." The real question is how certain do we have to be about their role before we decide the gamble is worth it? In this thread you see wealthy westerners complaining that mosquitos are a nuisance. In many parts of the world they are holocaust-scale killers. It gets to an age old question re: the precautionary principle, and a lot…

This is much more than a million dollar question. I know local economies depending on mosquito larvae winter haul. They sell those to fishermen. Fish populations depends on mosquito larvae in many lake and river ecosystems.

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#66

Post by libeclipse »

astazangasta wrote: post #36
hibikir wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mosquitos aren't about unpleasantness though: It is a vector for deadly disease in the tropics. We are talking hundreds of thousands of deaths a year. Now, getting rid of all of them might not be the smartest idea: it carries plenty of risk, but to say that they are just unpleasant is a major understatement.

We should just cure these diseases. Vector control is fucking hard, we've been trying it for a century without really fixing the problem. That isn't likely to change; therapeutic interventions, however, can keep getting better and cheaper.

>We should just cure these diseases.

Much, much easier said than done.

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#67

Post by cik2e »

joekrill wrote: post #30
lifeformed wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There will be side effects, but could it really be worse than the alternative? That is, one million deaths per year.

They very well could be. That's just it -- we don't know. And when we kill them all off, are we going to be able to reverse it when we find out that the result is causing two million deaths per year?

Under what hypothetical scenario would killing off mosquitos cause two million (human?) deaths per year?

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#69

Post by bryanlarsen »

joekrill wrote: post #30
lifeformed wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There will be side effects, but could it really be worse than the alternative? That is, one million deaths per year.

They very well could be. That's just it -- we don't know. And when we kill them all off, are we going to be able to reverse it when we find out that the result is causing two million deaths per year?

The worst man-made ecological disasters in history caused tens of thousands of deaths. We can say with certainty that killing off a few species of mosquitoes will not be worse.

Re: Let's Kill All the Mosquitoes

#70

Post by TheCondor »

Turing_Machine wrote: post #58
llamaimperative wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but that isn't even the million dollar question because the answer will never be "yes." The real question is how certain do we have to be about their role before we decide the gamble is worth it? In this thread you see wealthy westerners complaining that mosquitos are a nuisance. In many parts of the world they are holocaust-scale killers. It gets to an age old question re: the precautionary principle, and a lot…

Even more on point: Which is likely to cause more ecological damgage: 1) Wipe out two (of over 3,500) species of mosquito 2) Spray poisons indiscriminately, wiping out many different species of insect, both mosquitos and non-mosquitos?

Don't things eat mosquitos? Do any of those things matter?
Post reply on HN