this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2025
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[–] kami@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Welcome to hell, Icelanders!

[–] semisimian@startrek.website 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Hell arrived a while ago and it is summer on Lake Myvatn, or Midge Lake. You can't breathe without inhaling insects, so you have to wear a mask just in case a cloud of those things happen your way.

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yeah, we went to Iceland ~3 years ago and we learned beforehand to bring a mosquito net for Lake Myvatn. So this headline confuses me. The article says mosquitoes were only discovered there this month, but some random blog knew about it years ago?

[–] wjrii@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

There are biting midges, and I presume they're very annoying, but most don't bite and they're all different from mosquitoes.

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Ah, yeah I saw a lot of insects that I presumed were mosquitoes... do they look similar?

[–] theparadox@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The only annoying insects I've seen in Iceland, when visiting Goðafoss I think, seemed a good bit larger than mosquitoes. Not sure if those are midges or some other insect.

[–] Zidane@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 week ago (2 children)
[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 1 points 1 week ago

Go The Foss.

[–] theparadox@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I'm not a linguist nor am I Icelandic. However, when visiting I did notice that the language has this "Eth" (Ð ð) letter and [the "Thorn" Þ þ letter.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorn_(letter%29).

My simple, English-based understanding is that they represent two variations of the English "th" sound. Eth is voiced, softer, and similar to the "th" in "the" or "father" and Thorn is unvoiced, harsher, and similar to the "th" sound in its name "thorn" or "thank". It's subtle and I never remember learning about the differences in my schooling.

I've also noticed there is a small "movement", here and a few other sites online, to try and bring one or both of these back, replacing "th" with one or both these characters in English posts and comments.

Edit: Pronouncing the actual name of the waterfall, the Wikipedia page has a playable pronunciation that sounds to me like "go the foss" which matches an English pronunciation of just replacing Eth with TH, but that's just an approximation.

[–] Zidane@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Neat! Thanks for sharing. I knew about the thorn and then saw on the wiki the "Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈkɔːðaˌfɔsːft]" and my brain kinda shut off lol.

Wasn't y also a th character back in "ye olde" times for example?
English is weird.

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Yes, I believe the thorn had been replaced with a y when typesetting was first getting started, for some reason

[–] redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Genetic engineer your way out. The studies all agree it's fine, gene drive the mosquitoes extinct.

[–] Quadhammer@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Or Breed the ones that don't bite humans or whatever

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Great job, humans. You’ve ruined Iceland.

[–] SoloCritical@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

We’re not done yet, there’s still some icebergs that need to go!

[–] Sludgehammer@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Since we all know Global Warming is a hoax, obviously those mosquitoes were smuggled into Iceland by Antifa.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

For some time the propaganda has been that global warming is real, but not caused my human activity. It's a natural and unavoidable cycle.

Asked a guy at work, "OK, but 10-years ago is was called fake, wasn't happening. What changed?"

Forget his answer, but remember him being taken aback for a minute.

[–] LadyButterfly@reddthat.com 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yep I'm British and I've lost count of how many times a denier has said "no cos we used to grow grapes in England"

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

What's that supposed to mean? That it used to be warmer? Get ready for the AMOC to shut down, you for sure won't be growing grapes.

Record snowfall for Florida in my town last winter. Direct result of global warming.

[–] affiliate@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

antifa also made lots of tiny jackets for the mosquitos so they could survive the cold

[–] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago

I doubt it's the harsh weather that prevents mosquitos. They probably just never made it to the island before and now made it on a plane or boat finally.

In Canada you'll find hellish mosquitos up in the Arctic circle which has a much colder climates than Iceland I believe.

[–] usualsuspect191@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

How'd they get there? Human activity or somehow carried by weather maybe?

[–] jcs@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Any number of places. It could have been a stowaway in luggage, imported livestock, etc.

[–] brachypelmide@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 week ago

Yeah, probably this. And the increase in temperature simply made the conditions bearable when they got outside.

Could they have also maybe just.. flown over there? Insect migrations like this can happen, but I don't think it's possible on such a scale, even for mosquitoes.

[–] mech@feddit.org 1 points 1 week ago

My Plague Inc run is finally going as planned.

[–] reddifuge@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Ugh, that sucks for those people. Mosquitoes truly are the spawn of Trump.

[–] stretch2m@infosec.pub 1 points 1 week ago

That's insulting to mosquitoes.

[–] fxleak@lemmings.world 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Interesting.

Cold is going to be a commodity in the coming decades.

[–] LadyButterfly@reddthat.com 1 points 1 week ago

Alongside food, water amd shelter