Officials are pointing the finger at climate change as a Texas town battles another spring of exploding mosquito populations.
“If you open the car door to go somewhere, you’ve got 10 mosquitoes inside,” Mith Varley, a resident of the Houston suburb of Conroe, Texas, said of the issue, according to a report in the Washington Post.
Varley, who has lived in the area of Montgomery County for nearly 10 years, told the Washington Post he has never seen it worse. While the area of Texas has always been known as an ideal mosquito habitat, flood-inducing rains over the last few weeks have given the pesky insects even more ideal areas to breed and spread.
WHO APPROVES SECOND VACCINE AGAINST THE MOSQUITO-BORNE DISEASE DENGUE AS OUTBREAKS INTENSIFY
Mosquitoes fly over Sand Island, which is no longer an island, as unprecedented drought reduces the Colorado River and Lake Mead to critical water levels on Sept. 18, 2022, in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada. (David McNew/Getty Images)
“They are attracted to me. No one else gets mosquitoes like me,” Linda Adams, a local resident, told the Washington Post. “I was also a redhead as a child. I think that has something to do with it.”
Adams said she never leaves the house without dousing herself in bug spray, arguing that it is the “only way I can get through the day.”
“It has to be at least 40% DEET,” Adams said.
Josue Medina, a local tennis instructor, shared a similar sentiment, telling the Washington Post that this year’s swarm not only has more mosquitoes, but larger ones.
“The mosquito season is always bad, but right now it’s worse,” he said.
Interstate 45 runs through Houston’s downtown as seen from the Chase Tower observation floor on Sept. 7, 2021. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
UNDERSTANDING THE SEVERITY OF THE MOSQUITO-BORNE DISEASE DENGUE
Max Vigilant, the director of mosquito and vector control in nearby Harris County, told the Washington Post that sampling so far shows mosquito levels comparable to 2022 and 2023, though it is nearly impossible to fully count the mosquito population.
However, residents noticing a worsening problem can point to climate change as the cause, Vigilant argued, noting that “hotter temperatures” are coming to the area earlier in the year, making it more likely to see a large amount of mosquitoes.
“This is the impact that climate change has had on Harris Country,” Vigilant told the outlet.
One resident said she never leaves the house without dousing herself in bug spray, arguing that it is the “only way I can get through the day.” (iStock)
Harris County hosts over 50 species of mosquitoes, the report notes, while the county’s public health department, where Vigilant works, focuses its work with pesticides on targeting those that can carry diseases such as West Nile virus.
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The Harris County Public Health Department did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Meanwhile, residents continue to battle the problem while attempting to carry on with their daily lives.
“This right here,” Medina told the Washington Post, pointing to a large red welt by his knee. “This one got me yesterday.”
