(Please take this as constructive, as I very much want to see the global eradication of biting mosquitoes occur.)
I think this specific proposal (an online petition/Facebook activism) is naive and likely counter-productive. I feel like I should be docked several thousand Initiative Points for saying this, but please don't do as you propose.
For starters, you cannot say "mosquitoes" - as others have pointed out, there are ~3500 separate mosquito species, only ~100 bite humans, and only several dozen transmit disease. Narrowness is a virtue here, and this level of biological imprecision could alienate potential allies who will take you as reckless and uninformed.
(A related point is that the most promising interventions for eradication (like the sterile insect technique) are species specific, so it makes sense to start with the highest-priority target. Because [complex chain of reasoning to fill in later], I think aedes albopictus is likely the best bet.)
Also, I don't think country-level eradication plans (even for a single species) have the slightest chance of working long-term due to persistent re-invasion risk. A continent- or hemisphere-scale plan would be required, which...
I'm a little cautious about deliberately eliminating a species, even a harmful to humans one. The environment is a complex system, and sticking our monkey hands in and pulling leavers can backfire in unpredicted ways.
What other environmental effects do the mosquitoes have? Do they control some other pest species? Are they food for something larger? Does the additional infection vector of mosquito bites significantly improve the general immune system functions of humans or other species bitten by these mosquitoes?
Eradicating any organism would have serious consequences for ecosystems — wouldn’t it? Not when it comes to mosquitoes, finds Janet Fang.
— "A world without mosquitoes"
(Louie links that in his post, but it's only one link out of 14, so I am rescuing it.)
There are 3,500 different kinds of mosquitos and only 100 of them bite humans. To the extent that mosquitos are food for something larger the mosquitos species that don't bite humans can do the job.
I'm not aware of research showing improved immune systems because of mosquito bites.
For the U.S. we could craft messages for both the Red and Blue tribes.
To convince Blues let's say that opposing eradicating the biting mosquitoes is racist since mosquitoes kill so many Africans, and that Reds don't want us to kill mosquitoes because they fear African population growth.
To convince Reds say that mighty American technology can cheaply crush the disgusting disease-carrying bloodsuckers, and Blues oppose killing mosquitoes because they love the environment more than people.
I think appealing to personal self interest of people hating to be stuck by mosquitos is more likely to mobilize people instead of trying to go after Red/Blue tribes.
You're not allowed to kill members of an endangered species. You could try killing them all off before the paperwork gets through, but I suspect that wouldn't go over very well.
It seems like it would be easier to start with Africa, where the species is dangerous to humans and killing it off is more reasonable, and then try to convince other countries to use the technology just to reduce annoyances.
You're not allowed to kill members of an endangered species.
More precisely, you're not allowed to kill members of species your government has designated as endangered.
If the government agrees to your program of eliminating mosquitoes, I don't see many legal problems there. On the other hand, if you don't, I'm pretty sure you won't be allowed to proceed.
Simple update for those interested. Looks like some are taking a similar idea to market, as it were, in Honduras to fight dengue.
The mosquitoes Enriquez unleashed in his El Manchen neighborhood — an area rife with dengue — were bred by scientists to carry bacteria called Wolbachia that interrupt transmission of the disease. When these mosquitoes reproduce, they pass the bacteria to their offspring, reducing future outbreaks.
After further research I'm not certain whether the idea is currently the right strategic choice.
Objections against the idea often seem to boil down to usage of gene manipulation for getting sterilized male mosquitos. Given that there a public that hates the idea of gene manipulation that gives a publicity effort the chance to backfire.
On the other hand there already seem to be field trials in countries like Malaysia. That suggests that it's possible that at the moment the idea is pursued and we will progress in the common years as news of the success of p...
This sounds fishy. Clearly Bill Gates is smart enough to have considered this approach. If not, let him know.
I am all for this. This project will have a more positive impact on the German population than most economic projects by now for this price. And the developed technology can be used to eradicate mosquitoes, cutting off a chain in the transmission of malaria, a cause for an unspeakable amount of suffering and death, maybe even kickstarting economies closer to the equator.
That's one of the best news I've seen recently! I didn't even know this was possible at a reasonable cost...
How could we get a government to do this without spending too much money ourselves?
Taken literally, this is best accomplished by governments other than your own. That way, your taxes are not increased and the public services you use are not defunded.
According to Louie Helm eradicating a species of mosquitoes could be done for as little as a few million dollar.
I don't have a few million dollar lying around so I can't spend my own money to do it. On the other hand, I think that on average every German citizen would be quite willing to pay 1€ per year to rid Germany of mosquitoes that bite humans.
That means it's a problem of public action. The German government should spend 80 million Euro to rid Germany of Mosquitos. That's an order of magnitude higher than the numbers quoted by Louie Helm).
The same goes basically for every country or state with mosquitos.
How could we get a government to do this without spending too much money ourselves? The straight forward way is writing a petition. We could host a website and simultaneously post a petition to every relevant parliament on earth.
How do we get attention for the petition? Facebook. People don't like Mosquitos and should be willing to file an internet petition to get rid of them. I would believe this to spread virally. The idea seems interesting enough to get journalists to write articles about it.
Bonus points:
After we have eradicated human biting mosquitoes from our homelands it's quite straightforward to export the technology to Africa.
Does anyone see any issues with that plan?