When we first moved to Connecticut, I was doing some yard work in an attempt clean up the years of neglect of the previous owners, and my wife told me to be careful of poison ivy. Being from Oregon, I knew nothing about poison ivy, though I had seen my step-son go through the agony of a severe head-to-toe outbreak some years earlier.

So, I did some reading and and started spotting it growing everywhere in my yard. Up trees, on fences, in flower beds, etc. Everywhere. After years of battling the menace I had it nearly under control. But this year, it started appearing in all kinds of new places, next to garden beds, in walkways, by the deck, in the lawn, etc. Some friends also said it seems much worse this year.

So then I happen upon this article which reported on research which showed that increased CO2 causes poison ivy to out-compete other plants, and to make its poisonous component even more powerful.

Then I remembered some other articles about the effects of climate change: That West Nile Virus was spreading due to climate change as was Lyme Disease

Now every time I go outside, I need to wear long pants, long sleeves and a hat (even in the sweltering heat), douse myself in bug repellent, and still swat away the bugs which try to bite anyway. When I go inside I have to shower to get all the bug repellent off, and do a thorough search for the dreaded deer tick (I found 4 on me in June).

On top of all that, the winters are also going to be worse, thanks to climate change, the few beaches in the area are eroding

The northeast was a pretty inhospitable place even before climate change, I can understand why all my ancestors kept moving west.