Last weekend while in the process of doing some laundry a shadow crossed the wall in front of me. I turned around and hanging about a foot away was the BIGGEST spider I had ever seen. Rather than setting the house on fire and run screaming from it, I summoned my courage and took an old newspaper and killed it. After calming my nerves with an adult beverage I told my wife about the spider incident, to which she simply replied, "It sure seems like the spiders I've seen are suddenly bigger." Yes. Yes, they are, and now National Geographic is backing this up. 

National Geographic recently put out an article about spiders growing larger due to climate change. Specifically the Arctic Wolf Spider in a study done by Amanda Koltz. 

According to the article:

"Scientists have known for almost a decade that climate change would impact spider populations. A 2009 study showed that a warmer Arctic with earlier springs and longer summers could make wolf spiders both larger and—because larger spiders can produce more offspring—more abundant." - National Geographic

There is some good from this article as it goes on to say bigger spiders due to warmer weather and a longer summer equals fewer insects to bother us. But if I was given the opportunity, I'd gladly take the insects over giant spiders any day of the week.

Also from the same article here is a great piece on what you should do if you find a spider in your home. (They didn't recommend setting the house on fire and running from it either)

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