Here, a scientist transports genetically modified mosquitoes to release them. The company led its first pilot project in 2021, releasing approximately four million mosquitoes into the Florida Keys. These mosquitoes are intended to mate with wild populations and lead, ultimately, to the collapse of those populations. To stop the spread, the biotechnology company Oxitec has engineered a breed of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that produce only viable male offspring, which are nonbiting. Genetically Modified Mosquitoes As rising temperatures force animals to migrate, vector-borne diseases like those caused by the yellow fever, dengue and Zika viruses will proliferate via mosquitoes. Those numbers may sound abstract, but what they suggest is this: Thanks to astonishing declines in the price of renewables, a truly global political mobilization, a clearer picture of the energy future and serious policy focus from world leaders, we have cut expected warming almost in half in just five years. (A United Nations report released this week ahead of the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, confirmed that range.) A little lower is possible, with much more concerted action a little higher, too, with slower action and bad climate luck. Now, with the world already 1.2 degrees hotter, scientists believe that warming this century will most likely fall between two or three degrees. (Perhaps you’ve had nightmares about each of these and seen premonitions of them in your newsfeed.) Just a few years ago, climate projections for this century looked quite apocalyptic, with most scientists warning that continuing “business as usual” would bring the world four or even five degrees Celsius of warming - a change disruptive enough to call forth not only predictions of food crises and heat stress, state conflict and economic strife, but, from some corners, warnings of civilizational collapse and even a sort of human endgame. You can never really see the future, only imagine it, then try to make sense of the new world when it arrives.
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