Opinion

The Insect Apocalypse

You probably hate the very word 바카라˜bugs바카라™. But insects are the very 바카라˜fabric by which the Tree of Life is built바카라™바카라¦and we actually spend millions to destroy it!

The Insect Apocalypse
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The world바카라™s vital insect kingdom is undergoing 바카라œdeath by a thousand cuts바카라. Climate change, insecticides, herbicides, light pollution, invasive species and changes in agriculture and land use are causing Earth to lose probably one per cent to two per cent of its insects each year, says University of Connecticut entomologist David Wagner, lead author in the special package of 12 studies in Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences written by 56 scientists from around the globe.

The problem, sometimes called the insect apocalypse, is like a jigsaw puzzle. And scientists say they still don바카라™t have all the pieces, so they have trouble grasping its enormity and complexity and getting the world to notice and do something, reports the Associated Press. Wagner says scientists need to figure out if the rate of the insect loss is bigger than with other species. 바카라œThere is some reason to worry more because they are the target of attack바카라 with insecticides, herbicides and light pollution.

Co-author and University of Illinois entomologist May Berenbaum, a National Medal of Science winner, says, 바카라œInsect decline is kind of comparable to climate change 30 years ago because the methods to assess the extent, the rate (of loss) were difficult.바카라 Making matters worse is that in many cases, people hate bugs, even though they pollinate the world바카라™s foods, are crucial to the food chain and get rid of waste, she says. Insects 바카라œare absolutely the fabric by which Mother Nature and the tree of life are built바카라.

Two well known ones바카라”honeybees and Monarch butterflies바카라”best illustrate insect problems and declines. Honeybees have been in dramatic decline because of disease, parasites, insecticides, herbicides and lack of food. Climate change-driven drier weather in the US West means less milkweed for butterflies to eat. And changes in American agriculture remove weeds and flowers they need for nectar. 바카라œWe바카라™re creating a giant biological desert except for soybeans and corn in a giant area of the Midwest,바카라 Wagner says.

University of Delaware entomologist Doug Tallamy, who wasn바카라™t part of the studies, says the data highlights how the world has 바카라œspent the last 30 years spending billions of dollars finding new ways to kill insects and mere pennies working to preserve them바카라. 바카라œThe good news is, with the exception of climate change, individuals can do much to reverse insect declines,바카라 Tallamy says. 바카라œThis is a global problem with a grassroots solution.바카라Ā 

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