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Rash-causing moth spreading due to warming, scientists find
The Associated Press ^ | February 26, 2022 | By PATRICK WHITTLE

Posted on 02/26/2022 3:46:34 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A forest pest that bedevils Maine residents and tourists with hairs that cause an itchy rash appears to be spreading due to warming temperatures, a group of scientists has found.

The browntail moth is a scourge in America’s most forested state, where it defoliates trees and causes a rash in humans that resembles poison ivy. The hairs of the caterpillars, which have been the subject of an outbreak in the state for about seven years, can also cause respiratory trouble.

The growth and spread of the moth is tied to increasingly warm weather, especially in the fall, the scientists wrote recently in the journal Environmental Entomology. And, unfortunately, climate trends suggest upcoming years could be even worse, they wrote.

Warmer fall temperatures are especially beneficial to the pesky bugs because that allows them to get fatter before they hibernate for the winter, said Eleanor Groden, professor emerita of entomology at University of Maine and the principal investigator on the study.

It’s another example of how climate change can aggravate pest problems and jeopardize human health, said David Wagner, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut who was not involved in the study. Climate change has already exacerbated problems with disease-causing pests such as mosquitoes and ticks, he said.

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Maine
KEYWORDS: globalwarming; hoax; propaganda; socialism
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1 posted on 02/26/2022 3:46:34 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

2 posted on 02/26/2022 3:48:37 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum ("Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy." ― Mao Zedong [FJB])
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Or, there is too much fire suppression, if this species overwinters in fallen leaves as many moths do.


3 posted on 02/26/2022 3:49:41 PM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Oh shut up already


4 posted on 02/26/2022 3:50:33 PM PST by butlerweave
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

But of course.

Yet another story about global warming. This time, about a state with some of the most severe winters in America, said to be at risk.

No doubt, to make us all think, if a state such as Maine is at risk, we here in (fill in the blank, name of state) are surely at even more risk with global warming.


5 posted on 02/26/2022 3:50:47 PM PST by Dilbert San Diego
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrb3zoeKiGM


6 posted on 02/26/2022 3:57:47 PM PST by traderrob6 (This is a political)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

These crazies will shut up when Global Warming kills them in what 8 years


7 posted on 02/26/2022 3:58:24 PM PST by butlerweave
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Lying Democrat scum.


8 posted on 02/26/2022 4:03:43 PM PST by stinkerpot65 (Global warming is a Marxist lie. )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

In the 1980s in NH we had a gypsy moth caterpillar infestation. Stripped every oak tree of leaves. (Didn’t have to rake that fall.) You hear them popping under the tires of cars as they went down the road. Covered the sides of the house, had to wash the place down with a hose on a regular basis. And, worst of all, they’d fall on the BBQ grill at the most inopportune times.


9 posted on 02/26/2022 4:14:43 PM PST by NewHampshireDuo
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To: stinkerpot65

oh great! now I have to panic every time I see a moth.
Must put that on my “to do” list.


10 posted on 02/26/2022 4:16:00 PM PST by 1_Rain_Drop ("There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration” - Pompeo)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Warming should push the habitat of this moth further north into Canada...that is a good thing


11 posted on 02/26/2022 4:18:48 PM PST by Archie Bunker on steroids (You may not take an interest in politics, but politics takes an interest in you "Pericles" )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Species move around all the time. North America is still recovering from current Ice Age's last maximum and plants from warmer regions are constantly expanding north - every year for the past 10,000 years.

As an example look at the map below. It shows the density of native palm species in the United States in their current habitats. As you go north they thin out but that's only because they are spreading north and are therefore the new areas have fewer trees.

Living here in Phoenix I can tell you that almost every exotic palm species is self-propagating by seed and are growing like weeds all over the place. The Mexican fan palm is extremely fast growing and moving north like crazy.

12 posted on 02/26/2022 4:20:08 PM PST by WMarshal ("No war for communism")
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To: traderrob6

MothMan comith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOXLatZRE34


13 posted on 02/26/2022 4:25:40 PM PST by Revel
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Flying poison ivy...
End times.


14 posted on 02/26/2022 4:27:01 PM PST by Buttons12 ( )
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To: piasa

Maine deserves a bug up its ass.


15 posted on 02/26/2022 4:31:31 PM PST by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Sorry bud, the Earth's climate is doing now what it has been doing for the past 2 1/2 million years. We are currently in the Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, The current interglacial period that we are in is called the Holocene.

Here is a chart that shows the place to see glaciation along with the interglacial's and the pattern is consistent and repeating.


Source: http://clivebest.com/blog/?p=7024 Hell, if anthropogenic global warming is a real thing then it is the only thing that will stop us from falling into another glacial maximum and freezing to death.

16 posted on 02/26/2022 4:33:37 PM PST by WMarshal ("No war for communism")
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
I wonder if a “Rash-causing moth” can whip a murder hornet.
17 posted on 02/26/2022 4:37:23 PM PST by skimbell
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Looking at that chart, all I can say is thank the Lord for global warming.
Hard to believe anything survived 15k-10k bp. Brrr!!


18 posted on 02/26/2022 4:50:34 PM PST by Buttons12 ( )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Warmer temperatures causing moth to move south from Maine.


19 posted on 02/26/2022 4:59:07 PM PST by heartwood (Someone has to play devil's advocate.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Science has suffered some of the worst black eyes I’ve ever
seen over the last few years.


20 posted on 02/26/2022 5:27:47 PM PST by DoughtyOne (I pledge allegiance to the flag of the U S of A, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands.)
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