Climate Change and Pest Control: Keeping Pests out

“There’s one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other, and that is the urgent threat of a changing climate.” – Barak Obama

Climate change is defined as a “long-term shift in global or regional climate patterns.” It is synonymous with global warming. However, global warming is described as the “long-term heating of Earth’s climate system observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere.”

The consequences of global warming

The unfortunate reality of climate change as a consequence of global warming is the increase of severe weather events like the dangerous fires that spread through Australia towards the end of 2019, early 2020. The fires burned so hot that they caused their mini climates with Pyrocumulonimbus or dry thunderstorm clouds. These dry thunderstorms produced such severe lightning strikes that new fires were started. These clouds also grew so tall that the smoke was transferred into the stratosphere and was transferred over one thousand miles away and ended up in New Zealand. 

Keeping pests out of human settlement areas

Therefore, the question that must be asked and answered is what the impact of these severe weather events on the natural ecosystems are. The brief answer, as highlighted by pest control in Boise, is as follows: 

Animals like rats, mice, scorpions, spiders, and other common household pests all have a place in the natural world. However, when these natural habitats are destroyed, they are forced to move into human settlement areas. 

Thus, the next question is, how to keep pests out of human settlement areas such as residential zones as well as agricultural holdings.

By way of answering this question, let’s consider the following points: 

Keep your living environment clean 

Pests are attracted to a dirty living environment. Thus, if you leave dishes encrusted with dried food lying around the house, you run the risk of attracting flies, rats, and mice. Each of these pests has the potential to bring disease with them. 

For example, the Bubonic Plague is an infection of the human lymphatic system and is spread to people by the infected rat flea. 

Even though this illness was the cause of the Black Death that decimated the populations living in Asia, Europe, and Africa in the fourteenth century, there are unfortunately instances of this disease occurring in our modern world. 

Keep your yard tidy

It is vital to keep your yard neat and tidy; otherwise, pests like snakes, rats, and mice, and carpenter ants or termites will move into your yard and then into your house. Spiders and ticks also move into areas where there is long grass and garden refuse like leaves, broken tree branches, and grass clippings lying around. Thus, it is essential to cut the grass regularly, rake up all leaves and grass clippings, and pick up broken tree branches lying on the ground. Finally, wood piles must be stacked neatly in a tidy area; thereby, reducing the risk of attracting insects and other pests.

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