Ticks
Everyone’s other favorite blood-sucker is also getting a leg up via climate change. Ticks are spreading, and carrying tick sicks with them. Lyme disease is the most commonly reported illness spread by an insect or arachnid in the U.S., and the area in which you can catch it is growing.
The tick-takeover isn’t just about Lyme disease and its host, black-legged deer ticks, though. Multiple species of the eight-legged parasites carry all sorts of illnesses (like babesiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Powassan virus, to name a few). Plus, scientists are still discovering new ways for ticks to make you sick.
Like mosquitos, the tick (tick) boom is also hurting wildlife, particularly moose who end up infested with huge numbers of ticks through the winter.
