Climate change could expand the range of disease-carrying mosquitoes

Longer summers and more rain provide ideal conditions for the insects.

Mosquitoes are not just a nuisance. They can also be a public health risk.

And many areas are now seeing more of them - and even species they haven't seen before like Aedes albopictus, which can spread diseases like dengue, chikungunya, and La Crosse virus.

Davidson Hamer is a public health researcher at Boston University.

Hamer: "Aedes albopictus has spread … from the southern part of the U.S. gradually all the way up into New England and even into Ontario."

A warming climate could allow these and some other disease-carrying species to spread even farther.

And as climate change brings longer summers and more rain, mosquitoes could also have more of the warm, wet habitats they love to breed in.

Hamer says people can protect themselves by using bug spray, installing window screens, and eliminating standing water near their homes.

Hamer: "Discarded tires, or even potted plants, anywhere where there's a little sort of residual stand of water that could potentially serve as a breeding site."

He also says public health officials should monitor these mosquito populations and the diseases they can carry - so communities can prepare for emerging health risks in a changing climate.