Nuacht gan chiall, an uair seo ó Dúlra

Is gné nua é ó dheasc an Nature News a dhéanann machnamh ar dhomhan gan mosquitos (nó -toes). Conas atá an nuacht seo? B'fhéidir go bhfuil roinnt rialú veicteoireach nua ann nach mór dúinn go léir a chloisteáil! Bhuel, seiceáil an t-alt ón eagrán is déanaí de Nature dar teideal “Domhan gan mosquitoes“. Tháinig mé trasna air seo ar dtús Blag PZ Myers agus thosaigh sé ag scríobh nóta… a thosaigh ag fás go heaspónantúil agus mar sin shocraigh mé blagáil a dhéanamh faoi ina ionad sin.

Níl smaoineamh comhtháite agus beart leantach san alt iomlán seo. Deir an réamhrá go bhfuil an tátal déanta ag Janet Fang nach gcaillfinn domhan gan mosquitos. Is rómánsúil é áfach; i do shuí ar do phóirse cúil oíche shamhraidh, ag ól i Chateauneuf-du-Pape ’61, caitheamh tobac do Chúba agus ag ithe roinnt caviar Rúisis (d'fhéadfadh chomh maith aisling mór). Ní chloistear aon dordán amháin C ard i do chluas, ní bhuaileann cos ar bith scanrúil ar do chraiceann agus ar ndóigh is measa ar fad, aon phlandaí galair iompartha feithidí tú sé troigh faoi. Le nóisean brionglóideach mar sin b’fhéidir go mbeifeá ag súil go dtacódh Janet lena smaointeachas (smaoinimh agus aneurism) le roinnt fianaise tacaíochta nó ar a laghad fánaíocht fileata ag déanamh machnaimh ar a mbonn. Mar is féidir go mbeadh buille faoi thuairim agat faoin am seo, ní raibh sé seo amhlaidh.

Dá mbeadh tairbhe ann iad a bheith thart, bheadh ​​bealach aimsithe againn chun iad a shaothrú. Níor theastaigh uainn aon rud ó mosquitoes ach amháin dóibh imeacht.

Go raibh maith agat Janet Fang 6ú grád… OH fan, is intéirneach í agus glacaim leis gur íocadh í díreach as an ngreann sin.

Rinne Janet a cuid obair bhaile agus chuir sí ríomhphost chuig na mórán eolaithe a bhí ag obair ar mosquitos. Not a single one of them unambiguously stated that we would be not only better off without mosquitos, but that we should actually consider trying it. The general consensus can be paraphrased with the thought “well yes, mosquitos cause us incredible harm… but their impact on the environment is large and not understood well enough to say we can eliminate them safely”. Janet dances around this caution by ignorantly assuming that nature would fill the niche and any ecosystem service lost from mosquitos would be quickly replaced by similar insects that are somehow now harmless. Now we can all dance merrily through the savanna and nap under an acacia with a lion.

The boat she misses is a large one: the niche would be filled. One more time Janet, the niche would be filled… Mar sin,, if we lost mosquitos today, tomorrow we would have biting-midges or… hell – biting moths – that take their place. Parasites and pathogens are opportunists, as soon as the door creeps open a flood of novel vector/pathogen combinations would surface. The entire essay concludes with a thought from Joe Conlon from the American Mosquito Control that intimates this caveat.

If we eradicated them tomorrow, the ecosystems where they are active will hiccup and then get on with life. Something better or worse would take over.

Why this was chosen to be the most compelling quote of the essay perplexes me. Joe has a great point, life will continue with or without mosquitos, and we have no idea just what would take their place. Should we even attempt such a daring move? Somehow Janet lacks the ecological or biological background to interpret what is being said here and skips right pass this without a thought.

If I were writing this article I may have mused for a moment on the joys of life without pestilence. Sadly life is not so. But the wonders of modern science, technology and medicine have given us powerful tools to fight back the diseases mosquitos carry. Take for instance malaria. For thousands of years this disease was a heavy burden on the American peoples, it probably even played a factor in the pattern of settlement of this country. Not until the late 1940’s did science take charge and effectively eradicate malaria from the USA. Deonaithe, the primary ingredient to containment was likely habitat destruction… but there can be no doubt of the role the CDC played. Today there are nearly weekly advances in the fight against malaria and a cost-effective treatment is on the horizon for the millions of lives across the globe who continually suffer from this disease. Does Janet propose that we focus instead on mosquito extinction instead of control? Níl… actually Janet barely regurgitates a though of her own, but in premise she dreams of eradicating all mosquitos. How this could possibly be accomplished is beyond me. Making this happen is almost painful to think about, but without completely paving over all habitat – millions of tons of pesticide would have to be used. OK, it’s not even worth the effort to postulate a realistic mechanism by which we can accomplish this goal.

Ba chóir dom alt a athscríobh ag baint úsáide as na focail chéanna beagnach agus é a ath-theideal “Domhan gan mosquitoes, mallacht nach mór dúinn go léir troid”. Ansin ba cheart mo phost a thabhairt dom ag Dúlra agus na buanna móra a íoc… tar éis gach rud, Tá roinnt fíona agus caviar daor le ceannach agam.

Mar smaoineamh deiridh goidfidh mé an luachan Aldo Leopold seo a phostáil an tráchtaire Zachary Burington mar fhreagra ar an alt seo ar shuíomh Gréasáin Nature.

Is é an focal deireanach i aineolas an fear a deir faoi ainmhí nó planda, “Cén mhaith é?” Má tá an mheicníocht talún ina iomláine go maith, ansin tá gach cuid go maith, cibé an dtuigeann muid é nó nach bhfuil. Má tá an biota, i gcúrsa aeons, Tá rud éigin a thaitníonn linn ach nach dtuigeann, ansin cé hiad an t-amadán a chaithfeadh páirteanna a bheadh ​​gan úsáid? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.