Climate change is likely the culprit for mosquitoes arriving earlier, as warming temperatures were seen to impact diseases transmitted by mosquitoes in other places.
Climate scientists don't agree on what, if any, role global warming might be playing in a harsh end to winter. Arctic outbreaks of this year's severity occur naturally but are fairly uncommon.
Scientists have long known that the rise in average global temperatures is expanding the geographical presence of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, because the animals that transmit them are adapting to more widespread areas.
A fierce hurricane and a deadly pandemic are very different disasters, but there are common elements that can guide our response to the current crisis.
The disease that appeared in 2014 was found for the first time this week in the Lower Keys, jumping a gap in the reef tract at the Seven Mile Bridge the scientists hoped would keep the outbreak from spreading to South Florida's most diverse reefs.
