Posted on 04/20/2022 10:01:12 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Insect numbers have plunged by half in some parts of the world due to climate change and intensive agriculture, a study has found.
The combined pressures of global heating and farming are driving a "substantial decline" of insects across the globe, according to UK researchers.
They say we must acknowledge the threats we pose to insects, before some species are lost forever.
But preserving habitat for nature could help ensure vital insects thrive.
Lead researcher, Dr Charlie Outhwaite of UCL, said losing insect populations could be harmful not only to the natural environment, but to "human health and food security, particularly with losses of pollinators".
"Our findings highlight the urgency of actions to preserve natural habitats, slow the expansion of high-intensity agriculture, and cut emissions to mitigate climate change," she added.
Plummeting populations of insects around the world - a so-called "insect apocalypse" - have caused widespread concern.
However, scientific data gives a mixed picture, with some types of insects showing drastic declines, while others are staying steady.
But the researchers said there was some cause for hope in that setting aside areas of land for nature created a refuge for insects, which need shade to survive in hot weather.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
“Damn it...we’re in bat country...”
Canadian beekeepers lost 50% of their colonies this last winter.
My high-school biology teacher used to say that we are living in the Age of the Arthropod.
Wow, cool harvesting photo! 25 combines at $400k each. $10 million of equipment right there.
Yeah, there’s almost no place left for insects. ROTF LMBO
Sorry, but the absurdity of this theory is just shocking.
Even in farmland territory, not all land is farmed.
I don’t for a minute think that global warming and farming
have killed off half the bugs.
Theories like this contain a bug, and thus they really bug me.
As it happens, I have a termite guy doing work tomorrow.
and possibly zero drivers
Did you notice them on a massive flying day?
They are everywhere and in insanely vast numbers.
I was just mentioning to the wife that I had not yet seen today’s media mandatory climate fear porn article.
But, as if on cue, here ‘tis!
Now, all I need is the media mandatory COVID fear porn to make the day complete.
Can warmer weather and more farms eradicate ticks and mosquitos and deer flies? Because I would be in favor of that.
Farmers are now the bad guys. So their land will be taken to save bugs. With less land, fewer crops can be grown & there will be less to eat.
This is prophylactic on a house we’re buying. I did have that situation on another house a year or so ago.
Congrats on the new home.
‘The only good bug is a dead bug!’
lolz
Better set up those insect refuges fast and increase taxes.
Now what are we supposed to eat?
What? They ate them all already ?
“Insect numbers have plunged by half in some parts of the world “
In SOME PARTS of the world.
At any given moment, it has been estimated that the insect population is 10^18 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Oh noes! Only 500,000,000,000,000,000 LEFT! (oh, I forgot, just in SOME PARTS of the world)
” The estimated ratio of insects to humans is 200 million to one,”
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