In the run up to Christmas the temperature starts to soar and Australians begin to be plagued by two seasonal horrors. Will nobody think of the Australians?
While Brits have long been mesmerised by photographs of Australians celebrating Christmas on the beach with barbecues, the pictures only tell half the story. Thomas from Sydney lifts the lid on the two seasonal miseries afflicting locals, and this year it is worse than ever. One natural and the other man-made.
Mariah Carey and mosquitoes.
As November waved goodbye and December shuffled in weighed down by tinsel, baubles and fake Christmas trees, the onslaught commenced. The horror of Mariah Carey blasting out of every speaker is an equal match to the misery of the mosquitos, and this year both are worse than ever.
The frequency of Mariah Carey being played has been studied by media analysts and they have confirmed what Australians have experienced. This year has been a peak Carey event.A Careyocalypse leading to misery for Australians.
Not to be outdone, the mosquitoes have been swarming in unprecedented numbers in many parts of Australia including Sydney. Many shops are reporting that they have sold out of mosquito killers and repellents. Liverpool City Council Mayor Ned Mannoun said, “There’s no more bug spray … and people are worried about breathing that stuff in all the time”. While people wander the empty aisles Carey keeps singing with her annoying warbling echoing round the bare shelves to add misery to the torment of the stricken residents.
People are looking for answers. Are the events connected?
A cruel twist of fate
In an unlikely experiment in the Sydney University Entomology Department scientists may have discovered an unlikely solution.The team had been experimenting with enhancing sound frequencies to deter mosquitoes. Someone had jokingly suggested that playing the Mariah Carey Christmas song would surely drive off the mosquitos. During a lunch break one of the team played her song to the mosquitoes with surprising and dramatic results.
The experiment has been replicated dozens of times with numerous species of mosquitoes and the results appear to be unequivocal. Rather than repelling the mosquitoes, Carey’s singing actually attracted them. It would appear that the two phenomena are linked; that the seasonal and increased exposure of Australia to Mariah Carey’s song is causing the worsening of the mosquito infestation.