Posted on 02/11/2019 1:52:51 AM PST by LibWhacker
The world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, according to the first global scientific review.
More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, the analysis found. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, according to the best data available, suggesting they could vanish within a century.
The planet is at the start of a sixth mass extinction in its history, with huge losses already reported in larger animals that are easier to study. But insects are by far the most varied and abundant animals, outweighing humanity by 17 times. They are “essential” for the proper functioning of all ecosystems, the researchers say, as food for other creatures, pollinators and recyclers of nutrients.
Insect population collapses have recently been reported in Germany and Puerto Rico, but the review strongly indicates the crisis is global. The researchers set out their conclusions in unusually forceful terms for a peer-reviewed scientific paper: “The [insect] trends confirm that the sixth major extinction event is profoundly impacting [on] life forms on our planet.
“Unless we change our ways of producing food, insects as a whole will go down the path of extinction in a few decades,” they write. “The repercussions this will have for the planet’s ecosystems are catastrophic to say the least.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Insects have been around for 400 million years, during which time they survived a lot of varying natural conditions.
Despite the Guardian’s alarmism - a constant theme with that “newspaper” - I think they’ll still be around for a lot longer.
Liars
>>“Unless we change our ways of producing food, insects as a whole will go down the path of extinction in a few decades,”
We should be “sharing” our crops with the invasive insects, dammit.
Tell the Left to stop having the deep fried bug eating parties then. Murderers!
"...save the bugs"
Another jeremiad by the Guardian, with its reckless intent revealed in the final paragraph:
Man bad. Bugs good.
Although I have noticed a lot fewer bugs on the windshield last few years. Are cars getting more aerodynamic or have bugs figured out how to cross the street?
*bugs are doomed ping*
“first global scientific review”. here lies the problem
This is great news a few months before tick season here in the South!
That being said, about the only bug I no longer see down here is the firefly. I haven't seen a firefly in at least 30 years. :(
Not sure about this. It’s very noticeable that there are less insects splattered all over the front of my car in summer these days. When I was younger there were a lot.
Same here. Nothing at all to do with driving less at night now. Has to be because of the horrifying decline in the insect population.
A few years back, we were informed by the best and brightest that bees were going extinct. Then they weren’t.
I live in S.E. Michigan and all the bugs are gone, there’s not even any flies here......The ice fisherman are having to resort to minnows for bait.
A few years ago i was walking down a nature trail soon after dusk on Cape Cod and there were literally 1000’s of fireflies all over the place it was absolutely amazing.
Even my dog was amazed lol.
Never seen anything like it..
You’d be amazed how many people never heard that story. Especially the young. Typically the folks that never read that story are out on the streets or haven’t prepared for the future.
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