World’s worst invasive species costs billions
Climate change isn’t just affecting mosquito population sizes – it’s expanding their range north and southwards. 3,500 harmful invasive species, including the Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, are costing the global economy $423 billion a year, according to a new study. But mozzies aren’t the worst invaders. The water hyacinth, a plant that clogs up waterways and damages fisheries in South America, is number one. Others in the top ten include the shrub lantana, the castor bean and the black rat. The study also found that the economic toll from alien species has quadrupled every decade since the 1970s, and that their impact on humans and biodiversity has been “underappreciated, underestimated, and often unacknowledged”. Non-native species have been a major factor or the single driver in three-quarters of global animal and plant extinctions.
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