this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2024
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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 hours ago

As if human care about future consequences.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

I think they researched this and found that literally no creature completely rely on mosquitos, and that if they were wiped out the power vaccum would be replaced by other small flying insects that are within the diets of the creatures that would otherwise eat mosquitoes. So yeah, there really isn't anything stopping us from wiping them out. I say do it, and just keep some in a lab just in case if fucks stuff up. Or maybe more reasonably just modify them so they can't suck human blood or pierce human skin, which I'm pretty sure we're also already capable of.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Or maybe dont eradicate them? They've been here for millions of years why do we feel like their existence is worthless because they bother us, I say, prevent them from carrying diseases instead...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

I’d say it’s more than just a bother. You’re spot on about preventing them from carrying and transmitting disease.

Though I’m perfectly okay not having bot flies around anymore… Another insect that could be considered a bother but we mostly destroyed their population.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Funny how much (actual scientific) debate is around mosquito extinction event whilst we are well into a mass extinction event we caused (not to mention all the direct and systemic ecosystem eradication such as marshlands of all sorts).

[–] [email protected] 12 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Exactly. If we're going to kill everything else, why not them?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Because then we will have a few years of being able to sit outside in peace before going outside and melting.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 13 hours ago

And we as a species are such bastards that we would want them to melt, so it's all going according to plan.

[–] [email protected] 79 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Meh, the global ecosystem is fucked anyway. Might as well trim out the especially annoying bits and enjoy some relative comfort on our way to extinction. If doing so accelerates our downfall a bit, that's a fair trade.

I say it's worth the risk.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 day ago (4 children)

But unfortunately, hunting nazis is still illegal.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

Just do it with a car for the least amont of consequences.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 day ago

But not immoral!

Don't let the law stop you from doing what's right.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago

Ah... (Homer Simpson meme) so far.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Just gotta figure out how to turn their proboscis inside out with gene editing, make that an oral med, put it in a "supplement", and get marketing to sell it to them as a dick enhancer.

Make sure to label it "HOMEOPATHIC" and the government will leave you alone.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

Sell in deep web or Nazis groups that "we found how to make a drug to enhance of the most pure of the races" and advertize there

[–] [email protected] 7 points 20 hours ago

This, we can't have only the bad parts of mass extinction

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

If you haven't seen Puss in Boots 2, do yourself a big favor and go see it.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

On the surface this seems like it could be a running joke. A sequel to an 11 year old spinoff from Shrek 2. Ridiculous that they came out with such a good film.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 hours ago

It has one of the best on-screen depictions of a panic attack that I've ever seen, which I wasn't expecting

[–] [email protected] 3 points 16 hours ago

Who is your favorite fearless hero?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

It's a great movie, it brought me to tears, I highly recommend it.

I'm also just a sucker for Death depictions

[–] [email protected] 13 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

PLEASE do cockroaches next. I refuse to believe those monstrosities are capable of good, even tangentially.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 19 hours ago (3 children)

If cockroaches went extinct, there would actually be some pretty significant effects on ecosystems. They’re not just pests; they play a crucial role as decomposers. Cockroaches help break down dead organic matter—stuff like leaves, wood, and even dead animals. Without them, you’d start to see a buildup of this kind of waste, and the whole process of nutrient recycling would slow down. This matters because a lot of plants rely on nutrients that get released when organic material decomposes. If that process stalls, it could disrupt plant growth and soil health.

Plus, cockroaches are food for a ton of animals—birds, reptiles, small mammals, and other insects all rely on them. If they disappeared, it would mess with food chains, potentially leading to population drops in species that depend on them. And let’s not forget, cockroaches are also tied into the microbial world. They carry microorganisms that help break down certain materials, so their extinction could mess with those processes too.

So yeah, it’s easy to think the world would be better without them because they’re gross, but in reality, ecosystems would take a pretty big hit if cockroaches went extinct overnight.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah tbh cockroaches get a pass, mosquitoes are an existential threat to our species.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 14 hours ago

A bit of an exaggeration but fuck em.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 18 hours ago

Thanks for this. As much as I hate them, my daughter and I were recently trying to find whether they serve any purpose besides occasionally ruining my life.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 17 hours ago

They’re not just pests

*pets

[–] [email protected] 3 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

I saw three in the past hour. Two while I was in the shower, and one in the kitchen. I will do anything to have these fuckers extinct

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

The mosquito we see around us are invasive species that we humans brought along as we migrate across the continent. Make sense if their extinction bring neglectable impact to the local ecosystem. They aren't supposed to be there to begin with.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 14 hours ago

There is a species of mosquito that is a prolific pollinator, one of them for blueberries.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 day ago (12 children)

Just a guess... they're probably a food source low in the chain. Disrupt the food chain and we're screwed.

https://www.britannica.com/story/what-purposes-do-mosquitoes-serve-in-ecosystems

[–] [email protected] 51 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Well there's like 30 species and only 4 that hurt humans, so mosquitoes can stay, but those specific 4 can die off.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (1 children)

There's one specific species that causes malaria. Getting rid of that particular one would probably do more good than harm. Their place on the food chain can be filled in by others.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 15 hours ago

But if they fill in the place in the food chain, that also means they need to be snacking on us.

And I'm not just saying that to be a smart-ass. If humans were a different species, we'd call them horrendously invasive, awful for local ecosystems and that it's really important that their numbers are kept in check, or whatever other euphemisms there are.
No, I don't want to suggest that we should leave humans to die, but we should be aware that it's not as simple as just saving a few lives. We will run into different problems sooner rather than later.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 day ago

Even better, there's thousands of mosquito species, and only 4 that bit humans

Those 4 can fuck right off into extinction

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 19 hours ago

Their eggs are a rich snack for fish. The reason they're a rich snack is because their mom sucked blood.

That said, we can probably kill off the one species that causes malaria. Other species will move into the gap.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Everything I've read suggests that mosquitoes aren't a primary food source for anything, and that their absence would be relatively easily adusted for by those creatures that do eat them. Still, that's a hell of a dice roll.

Edit: And apparently that may be wrong anyway.

For other animals—such as lizards, frogs, spiders, and other insects—adult mosquitoes are the primary food source.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

I have argued for the same caution every single time this came up on Reddit, because I know of a dozen examples in history where we fucked up something similar.

I got downvoted every single time, across several posts over the years, because obviously the hive mind believes things will be different this time! The thing that males me confident it'll fail is I've never seen, and nobody's ever provided, an example where this type of ecological engineering has actually succeeded for the better.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago

this type of ecological engineering

Do you count reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone to be the same type of ecological engineering? I haven't checked progress on that for a while but the last I heard, it was too early to say whether it was successful. I highlight Yellowstone because of how cautious the effort was (it took years of planning and analysis) and this caution feels like it's directly descended from the fuck ups of the past

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Mosquitos aren't some special niche. Take out mosquitos and something else moves in to replace them, something that doesn't bite.

There's nothing that solely depends on mosquitos, and wouldn't prefer to eat other things which mosquitos may be suppressing by existing themselves.

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