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What animal could you delete from existence with a mostly positive outcome for the planet? (aussie.zone)

submitted 1 year ago by bestusername@aussie.zone to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

196 comments fedilink hide all child comments

And don't say humans, too obvious, too cynical.

I'd delete mosquitos.

The only negative effect I can think of would be fish won't have mosquito larvae to eat and their diet would have to shift.

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[–] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You don't need to eliminate all mosquitos, just the ones that bite people.

There are dozens of different species of mosquitos, and not all of them bite people. If you get rid of the ones that bite people the others will likely still fill in as pollinators for those that are no longer competing with them.

[–] Auzy@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes.. But then more humans will survive by avoiding certain diseases, which as a result, will produce a worse environmental outcome

[–] JustinTheGM@ttrpg.network 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Eh, kill off 3 or 4 billionaires per year and you'll counteract whatever additional environmental damage comes from millions of people not dying from malaria.

[–] Auzy@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

Funny you mention that, but in a way that's also true via the same mechanism.

Isn't the Gates Foundation focusing on stopping diseases from mosquitos? https://www.worldmosquitoprogram.org/en/news-stories/stories/the-gates-foundation-and-the-world-mosquito-program-partners-in-change