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- Experts say rising temperatures and other climate change phenomena may trigger more pest problems.
- This could result in pests having more offspring and showing up in places they haven't been before.
- Pest control companies could see an uptick in business as a result.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Scorching heat waves are still sweeping much of the US, and a new climate report says global temperatures will climb at least 2 to 3 degrees between now and 2040.
While billions feel the negative effects of climate change, one industry could potentially benefit from it: pest control specialists. Hotter temperatures, alongside other patterns spurred by the climate crisis, could spell big business for pest control companies.
"As extreme weather becomes more frequent, warmer temperatures and increased precipitation can affect pest populations, usually causing an increase in populations or an expansion in the habitats that insects can thrive," Brittany Campbell, a staff entomologist and research scientist for the National Pest Management Association, told Insider. "Warmer temperatures lasting longer and seasonal fluctuations like more early springs has allowed for some insect populations to reproduce more and have increased generations of offspring per year."
Changes like these have already stretched out the typical busy season for pest control companies.
Charles Evans, the owner of Evans Pest Control in Philadelphia, says his business now treats for some insects in seasons in which they don't typically appear.
"Now we're getting calls throughout the winter for ants," he said. "That was unheard of at one point."
Evans says "unseasonably warm weather" is to blame.
"With the longer summers and warmer winters, things tend to stay alive," he said. "It seems like everything's more active now."
Stacy O'Reilly has seen similar business trends at her company, although she notes that climate change can also decrease business in some cases. O'Reilly is the owner and president of Plunkett's Pest Control, which is headquartered in Minneapolis and operates in 21 states.
"We're getting calls earlier in the summer and later in the fall than we used to," she said. "Our season to control insects is longer in Minnesota in my estimation than it was 20 years ago."
It's not just the time of year. Pests are also popping up in geographical ranges they don't typically inhabit.
"The pests we see in our Southern territories are now more prevalent in our Northern territories," she added. "It's slowly expanding, the opportunity for Southern pests to reproduce in more Northern climates."
Read more: The climate crisis is already upending American real estate - with trillions at stake
Warmer temperatures are often a factor.
"When we have those warmer temperatures that can cause insects to be able to change where they can actually live and survive because they're going to have optimal ranges of temperatures that they live in," said Wizzie Brown, an entomologist and specialist with Texas A&M University's AgriLife Extension Service. "If it's normally 65 degrees somewhere, and it starts to be 85 degrees there, then insects that have that new range can then move into new places that they might not have been before."
Rising temperatures could also mean pests have more generations of offspring.
"When it's cooler outside, it usually takes longer for insects to kind of get through their life cycle, going from egg to adult," Brown said. "When it's warmer, that can actually speed up the rate of development."
The combined result of these developments is that "climate change is acting as a major catalyst for the rise in demand for pest control services across the globe," according to a 2020 report on the global pest control service market.
In the meantime, pest control specialists will have to stay on their toes as climate change continues to affect their businesses.
"We just have to remain aware of the climate's impact on insects and do the best we can," O'Reilly said.