Climate change: Increase in termite population with increasing temperature, more than Rs.3 lakh crore loss in the world every year

• Termites are reaching cities far from their natural habitat due to increasing connectivity, climate change
• Most of the world’s cities are coming under the grip of termites
  
• Rising temperatures are also making colder areas more favorable for termites
  

Along with climate change, termite infestation is also increasing rapidly around the world. Most of the world’s cities are under attack by termites, a small but destructive and invasive pest. Rising temperatures are also making colder areas more favorable for termites. Termites cause an annual cost of Rs. More than 3,33,715 crores (four thousand crore dollars) is being lost. This information has been revealed by a research study published in the journal Neobiota. As the climate is changing globally and the world is warming, this invasive species is spreading rapidly even in cities where it was previously unknown. Such cities include warm cities such as Sao Paulo, Lagos, Miami, Jakarta and Darwin as well as cold temperate cities such as London, Paris, Brussels, New York and Tokyo. Termites, normally found in tropical climates, are now easily accessible to cities far from their natural habitats due to increasing connectivity and climate change. Increasing urbanization will further facilitate the widespread spread of invasive termites in the future. Termites spread to homes and offices due to the global movement of other goods, including wooden furniture, shipped by ship to far-flung areas. The main reason termites target wood is its cellulose, which is the termite’s main diet. Cellulose is abundant in trees, plants, wood and grasses. Also, a termite’s mouth is designed in such a way that it is easy for it to eat everything, including wood. Researchers say that we don’t even know when a termite in a small piece of wood can travel from one corner of the world to another. Then, when the male and female termites are attracted to the light, their population begins to increase.

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