Oxford scientists have dismissed fears that mosquitoes could spread malaria in the UK as a result of global warming, writes Victoria Owen.
Although recent scares have predicted swarms of the creatures will invade northern Europe as the region heats up, new research has ruled it out.
Work at Oxford University by zoologists Prof David Rogers and Dr Sarah Randolph shows that mosquitoes rely on many environmental factors other than just high temperatures to survive.
They claim that bugs and the parasites they transmit depend on rainfall and vapour pressure in the atmosphere.
The scientists believe that organisms need humidity to live in high temperatures, but global warming is likely to cause a drier atmosphere jeopardising the mosquitoes' survival.
Their research, published in Science magazine, showed which areas of Earth could be affected by 2050, if global warming continued.
Prof Rogers said: "While our work suggests that the threat of malaria to temperate regions has been greatly exaggerated, it also suggests that a shift in the distribution of malaria will affect large numbers of people in the tropics.
The Oxford scientists found that only relatively small changes would take place compared with the present day.
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