Sun spots and mosquitoes
Home » Blog » Annabel McAleer » Sun spots and mosquitoesThe sun enters a new cycle, summer arrived (for a day or two), and it's mozzie time in Auckland. Anyone got any eco-friendly repellent ideas?
The front page of the NZ Herald might've caught the eye of Aucklanders this morning. It's covered in a huge picture of the sun, courtesy of Nasa, depicting a single sunspot. It illustrates the beginning of a new cycle for the sun, ending the 'solar minimum' (a time when the sun doesn't experience many sunspots or solar flares) that's gone on about a year longer than expected. Only last week the Ulysses space probe detected the lowest solar activity observed in 50 years.
Perhaps it's a good time for the "It's the sun, not humans" theory of climate change can finally be laid to rest? (Check out what New Scientist and Grist have to say about that old chestnut.)
Meanwhile, summer arrived ... and then left again. I moved to Auckland's lush, bush-clad west on the weekend ... and have 28 mosquito bites to show for it already.
I'm keen to hear your thoughts on pyrethrum-based automatic insect repellent sprays. I realise that battery-powered aerosol cans that squirt chemicals every few seconds must not be very environmentally friendly, or healthy. But is it any worse, environmentally or health-wise, that spraying rooms with flyspray and coating myself with DEET and roll-on deoderant? (I think it's the aluminium in roll-on deoderant that is so effective at stopping bites from itching—but it's not exactly healthy, either...)
If any readers have better suggestions on keeping mozzies out of the house, I'm keen to hear them.
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