Gore again, this time it is about mosquitoes, malaria, and elevation. Some history checking by mosquito epidemiologist Paul Reiter reveals he’s wrong about Nairobi. Turns out that some species can live as high as 10,000 feet. Even as far back as 1927 in this letter to Time Magazine, people knew of mosquitoes at the snow line. A 1960 study shows mosquitoes in the California Sierra Nevada mountains and another shows mosquitoes in the mountains of Africa. Of course those aren’t malaria carrying anopheles mosquitoes, but I’ll point out that Gore was not specific about which mosquitoes were “climbing”. And if there is indeed a mosquito borne malaria problem in Nairobi, there’s this contradictory evidence: In a presentation during the 8th International Conference on Urban Health, held in Nairobi 18–23 October 2009, it was stated that of nearly one thousand Nairobi residents tested, none were positive for malaria.
There has been a resurgence of malaria in Kenya though. It may have something to do with this: Kenyan scientists are embroiled in a deepening controversy over whether Kenya should lift a ban on the pesticide DDT in a bid to reduce deaths from malaria.
UPDATE: E.M. Smith writes in comments:
If you look at this page:
http://www.mosquitoes.org/anopheles.html
you will find a listing for the native Anopheles freeborni listed as a malaria vector and with habitat that ranges at least up to 6000 feet.
From the UK Spectator by Paul Reiter
The inconvenient truth about malaria
Al Gore has made bold claims that climate change is aiding the spread of insect-borne diseases. The science does not support him, says Paul Reiter
Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth, was a masterpiece. Like an elder brother to all humanity, he patiently explained the familiar litany of disasters — droughts, floods, hurricanes, sea-level rise and the rest — spiced with heartrending personal stories: his baby son’s near-fatal accident, the agony of losing a sister to lung cancer. It was a science lecture crafted by Hollywood.
In his book — the version for adults, not the one for schoolchildren — he even included a colour photograph of a corpse, a young man, floating face downward, drowned by Hurricane Katrina. I wonder whether the dead boy’s family were consulted.
I am a scientist, not a climatologist, so I don’t dabble in climatology. My speciality is the epidemiology of mosquito-borne diseases. As the film began, I knew Mr Gore would get to mosquitoes: they’re a favourite with climate-change activists. When he got to them, it was all I feared.
In his serious voice, Mr Gore presented a nifty animation, a band of little mosquitoes fluttering their way up the slopes of a snow-capped mountain, and he repeated the old line: Nairobi used to be ‘above the mosquito line, the limit at which mosquitoes can survive, but now…’ Those little mosquitoes kept climbing.
The truth? Nairobi means ‘the place of cool waters’ in the Masai language. The town grew up around a camp, set up in 1899 during the construction of a railway, the famous ‘Lunatic Express’. There certainly was water there — and mosquitoes. From the start, the place was plagued with malaria, so much so that a few years later doctors tried to have the whole town moved to a healthier place. By 1927, the disease had become such a plague in the ‘White Highlands’ that £40,000 (equivalent to about £350,000 today) was earmarked for malaria control. The authorities understood the root of the problem: forest clearance had created the perfect breeding places for mosquitoes. The disease was present as high as 2,500m above sea level; the mosquitoes were observed at 3,000m. And Nairobi? 1,680m.
Read the rest of the story at the Spectator
The Netherlands where declared Malaria free by the WHO in 1970 after the last endemic case in 1956 and Malaria was first seen in the Netherlands somewhere in the 17th century when it was known as “Zeeland koorts”. And it has a personal touch for me, my dad who is now 71 years old suffered from Malaria when he was a kid.
So Gorebull, what’s up next, the pine-beetle?
Officer Vic on San Francisco’s KSFO today demonstrated that Al Gore’s ‘poem’ is
reminiscent of a verse from Bob Dylan’s ‘A Hard Rain’s agonna Fall.’ Check it out.
[Reply: Link? ~dbs, mod.]
Hmm…observed at 3000m. Told to us by a “scientist, not a climatologist”. Talk about an inconvenient truth. After his repeated instances of foot-in-mouth untruths, perhaps Al should stick to Hollywood fiction. He seems to be pretty good at making things up.
His goreness should really check his mouth at the door. great article int he Investors Business Daily (sorry if it has been posted before) about Al’s inconvenient effects. http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=515430
Cheers
I can attest to this. Hiked Momo Pass in Yosemite in July, hounded by mosquitoes entire way. Starting elevation 9,900 ft, and ending elevation over 11,000 ft. One dared not stop, but ate ” on the run”. I am eager to visit Alaska, but am very concerned about the mosquitoes, as i hear they are voracious. fm
Six American presidents have contracted Malaria- although non of late. The CDC shows malaria was endemic to almost every State east of the Misissippi River until about 1940. Malaria is not a tropical disease. One of the arguments against siting our nation’s capitol in Washington was that it was a “malarial swamp” Yellow fever is also not a tropical disease and was a scourge in Philadelphia at the time of our Founding Fathers.
There is also a problem in the accuracy of malaria reporting. In a recent study in Kenya, about two thirds of people who had been diagnosed and treated for malaria were found, in fact, to have never had the disease to begin with.
When patients present with a certain set of symptoms, they — and often the doctor — simply assume the cause.
Cromwell and malaria:
http://www.olivercromwell.org/faqs8.htm
Plato says,
” is Plimer usually like this?”
Pilmer is not fit for purpose, in my opinion. He has made factual errors in previous interviews, such as claiming that volcanoes emit more CO2 than humans. Coming from a geologist, that is really wierd. He is almost as big an embarrasment as Al Gore.
History is being rewritten by the warmists. They tried, and are still trying, to remove the “putative” MWP, and they are recasting malaria as a disease of warmth when it is a historical fact that malaria has been prevalent in cold as well as warm climates.
In a recent interview, I witness Piers Corbyn snort derisively at a Russian WWF activist for making the blatantly false claim that malaria was unknown in Russia until the present.
Re: Pilmer. I cringed in an earlier interview when he claimed that CO2 levels were 1000 times higher in the geological past than they are at present. I don’t know where he got those figures from. Fortunately it was a solo interview, not a debate.
ALGore must have some mental issues. He appears to be a pathological liar / exxagerator. I would feel sorry for him …. if he wasn’t trying to drive the world’s economy off a cliff.
The good news is the more he talks, the more people realize he is incapable of telling the “truth”.
J. Schmee (10:32:04) :
Haven’t seen it yet, but Ian made some pretty wild (unfounded?) scientific claims in his book alongside his political critique of CAGW theory. He had plenty of time to prepare, Monbiot had given him plenty of fair warning on what his complaints were… if he couldn’t hang it was his fault.
That said, I don’t see the warmistas abandoning anything every time Gore gets solidly debunked. Focus on the science, eventually good science will prevail and tell us something solid one way or the other
As Prof. Reiter has pointed out elsewhere (evidence to the UK House of Lords Committee on Economic Affairs, 2005) the largest outbreak of malaria ever recorded was in the Soviet Union in the 1930’s. 10000 people died in the city of Archangel alone, almost on the Arctic Circle.
Why does this snargebrain never learn? Perhaps because, as a politician, he is never wrong (in his own estimation).
Ah, yes. I remember it well.
The year was 1962. I was on a trip and visited Crater Lake in Oregon.
The mosquitoes ate me alive.
Crater Lake, as you may know, is at high elevation. Although it was the middle of June, there was still snow on the ground under the trees.
I was quite surprised, as I had read that mosquitoes were found at low elevations.
The Gore claim is false, as are so many of his claims.
Malaria is not restricted to tropical areas at all – even a few places in Norway used to have it.
If anyone doubts mosquitoes can thrive in high altitude environments I suggest they take a trip to “Mosquito pass” in Colorado.
Elevation = 13,185 ft , 4018 meters
39°16′53″N 106°11′10″W
http://www.colomar.com/ColoradoPlaces/mosquito_pass.html
It is called that for a very good reason! The mosquitoes in summer time are huge, and thick enough many people will not get out of their cars when they are anywhere near the melt water ponds where they breed.
Larry
Gore Making Claims of Melting Glaciers at La Paz, Bolivia. How can he say that it’s AGW? Anyone?
http://pathstoknowledge.net/2009/12/16/gore-making-claims-of-melting-glaciers-at-la-paz-bolivia/
The man is starting to make Dan Quayle look bright.
A man was camping in Alaska, and discovered two mosquitoes had gotten into his tent. He heard them talking.
“Should we eat him here, or take him outside?”
“Eat him here. If we take him outside, the big ones will take him away from us.”
Posters making claims that Europe used to have malaria should note that there are various strains of the disease. The deadly one is mostly limited to warm places. (The others require repeated infection or other problems to be fatal.)
Europe was plagued by malaria in the past, true, but not like Africa. Not all “malaria” is equal.
That said, I don’t think Gore was worrying about which type of malaria either.
Mooloo,
“Europe was plagued by malaria in the past, true, but not like Africa. Not all “malaria” is equal.”
Fine, but when warmists claim that malaria is moving to hitherto malaria free places because of global warming, what malaria are they talking about? If it’s European malaria then this is nothing to do with warming, and if its African malaria, they are simply misinformed – it isn’t moving to Europe, or any other high latitudes.
There are lots of mosquitoes at high altitude but not malaria mosquitoes. I have to wear a mosquito net at 11,000 ft near the lakes I hike to.
I’ve been to central Siberia … one place I remember in February was lower than -30C even without the windchill … went back in summer, and met the biggest damn mosquitoes I’ve ever seen … even worse than African ones …
Isn’t Paul Reiter the guy who had to threaten to sue the IPCC to get them to take his name off their report ?
“Pilmer is not fit for purpose, in my opinion. He has made factual errors in previous interviews, such as claiming that volcanoes emit more CO2 than humans. Coming from a geologist, that is really wierd. ”
——————–
Why would that be wrong? I understand that humans emission of CO2 account for only about 3% of total levels. One erupting volcano should easily be able to outdo that.
As several commentators have noted, human malaria is not and never has been restricted to the tropics. It does have a northern limit related to the minimum temperature needed for part of the malaria protozoan’s life cycle, 16 C (~60 F). In the 1800s in Europe, malaria extended north to 68 degrees of latitude, where it isn’t often 16 C, probably because the vector mosquito popuations built up in warm summers and some mozzies bit infected people when overwintering in their houses, and then passed on the disease the next spring.
If anyone wants to read an article on far north malaria, this Finnish study is quite interesting:
Endemic malaria: an ‘indoor’ disease in northern Europe. Historical data analysed by Lena Huldén, Larry Huldén &Kari Heliövaara.Malaria Journal 2005, 4:19
Humans are the reservoir of malaria and the only vectors of human malaria are mosquitoes in the genus Anopheles. These mosquitoes extend well to the north. I have Anopheles earlei in my backyard at 53 N in Alberta and like most Anopheles it is considered a competent malaria vector. The reason I don’t worry about malaria is because I’m not living in a place where a person with malaria is likely to get bitten by an Anopheles. The spread of malaria to new regions or the re-emergence of the disease in areas that once had malaria have everything to do with the relocation of people carrying the disease and the breakdown of public health systems through ignorance, stupidity (e.g. fear of insecticides), and social unrest. They have nothing whatsoever to do with Global Warming.