INSECTS, MUCH LIKE US, are more active when the weather is warmer. Climate change means that summers could get less insects. But when it comes to some of the more pesky insects, like mosquitoes, it could feel like there are more of them.
Our changing climate affects different species of insects in different ways. Studies show that globally an increasing number of insects could be at risk for extinction. Many are also emerging either earlier or later in the year than they used to as weather patterns change. Experts warn that the change could have harmful impacts on ecosystems, agriculture, and in some cases, health.
Some insects are adapting to changing climates by moving to regions that might have previously been unsuitable. They are not just expanding their habitats, but they’re becoming more abundant in places where maybe they weren’t as abundant before.
For some species, this can be cause for concern. For example, climate change is lengthening mosquito season and expanding the areas where mosquito-borne diseases like malaria or West Nile virus may spread. The likelihood of certain diseases being transmitted in places where those diseases weren’t really a problem before are increasing.
Shifts in weather patterns meanwhile are causing some insect species to emerge at different times of the year than they once did. This change in timing can impact the insect’s chance of survival and that of the other species that might rely on it. Scientists are now seeing increases in temperature and increases in drought, and that will have impacts on the ability of species to survive in certain places, and the ability of species to interact with the right organisms. If you’re a pollinator, and you’re emerging and you are looking for a particular group of plants that you’re going to be collecting pollen or nectar from, if that plant has already flowered, you have this mismatch with organisms that you should be interacting with to be able to survive.
The misalignment has a big impact on ecosystems—changing how a species interacts with plants and other organisms. That’s a big concern, because those insects are pollinators for crops and they are part of food chains for terrestrial animals, and are critical to a lot of ecosystems, as well as pollinators to our own food production.
Pollination changes stand to affect our food systems. Over 80% of all flowering plant species are mostly pollinated by insects, with pollinators playing a role in over 35% of the world’s crop production.
While sometimes annoying, insects are more important than many of us give them credit for. The biodiversity ecosystem (animals, birds, everything) depends on food chains that often have insects as an important component. We are looking at depriving all sorts of ecosystems that have this one step that involves insects. For people who care about nature and food, it’s a frightening scenario. By Manny Palomar, PhD (EV Mail SEPTEMBER 8-14, 2025 Issue)
