… enviro-fomented pesticide hysteria is.
The WaPo reports:
West Nile virus outbreaks are likely to flare up in the coming years, spurred on by warmer, longer mosquito seasons coupled with cuts in disease-control funding that leave authorities unprepared, according to two new studies.
After an all-time high in 2003 with nearly 10,000 cases and 264 dead, the virus backed off gradually for the remainder of the decade — until last year. In 2012, there were 5,674 cases and 286 deaths, almost twice the 2003 mortality rate.
My cousins in Alaska can tell you that “warmer” means little to mosquitos. The availability of standing water for breeding means a lot, even if it’s ice water. Alaska has some *formidable* mosquitoes!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y183/huffphoto/pc_sent.jpg
Notice how the report states “warmer, longer mosquito season” when it’s more likely that there was a “wetter, longer mosquito season”. Of course, no one is concerned about Global Wetting.
Was it wetter in the affected areas in 2012 than the preceding years? I seem to recall mosquito abundance being somewhat related to the amount of rain.