The article [“They’re like ‘vampires’: Heavy rains, warm temperatures cause mosquito excess,” Recorder ,July 31], offers an essential reminder of why mosquito control is necessary to help reduce the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. But the article fails to recognize the fundamental cause of this urgent issue: climate change.

Warmer temperatures and greater rainfall, which create the ideal conditions for mosquitoes to reproduce, are direct results of human-made climate crises, such as increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Climate change is making natural disasters and unusual weather patterns increasingly frequent, powerful and costly. Not addressing climate change means that we are ignoring the long-term solutions necessary to combat the effects of these unnatural weather conditions.

Even though we must continue to use and refine mosquito control strategies that are effective in the short term, it is equally important to take action to address the source of the problem by reducing emissions, promoting renewable energy sources, and safeguarding ecosystems.

Laurie Woodward Garcia

Westborough

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