THE INSECT APOCALYPSE

We can not survive without bugs. In fact, nothing can.

Insect Extinction

Insect populations are in sharp decline

We can not survive without bugs. In fact, nothing can. If we kill all the bugs, the entire ecosystem collapses. We will no longer exist.

There is no doubt that we are poisoning our planet at an alarming rate. What’s really scary is that we are not  focusing on reducing pesticide use. In fact, the amount of poison that is already in our land and water may be enough to continue the decline of insects even if we stopped using poison today.

Pesticide-based agriculture must be replaced by sustainable agriculture methods for the sake of our own survival.

We fear bugs because we know little about them. One person will scream and jump up on a chair to get away from a spider while another will just pick it up and put it outside. We need to respect bugs. It’s for our own good.

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Here are some articles on the decline of insect populations

Study shows dramatic declines in insect populations in Germany

Much smaller insect populations could have significant knock-on effects for the health of the planet

A new scientific study has found “dramatic” and “alarming” declines in insect populations in areas in Germany, which researchers say could have far-reaching consequences for the world’s crop production and natural ecosystems.

The study, published on Wednesday in peer-reviewed journal PLOS One has found that, in German nature reserves, flying insect populations have declined by more than 75% over the duration of the 27-year study.
“The flying insect community as a whole… has been decimated over the last few decades,” said the study, which was conducted by Researchers from Radboud University in the Netherlands and the Entomological Society Krefeld in Germany.

A giant insect ecosystem is collapsing due to humans. It’s a catastrophe

Insects have triumphed for hundreds of millions of years in every habitat but the ocean. Their success is unparalleled, which makes their disappearance all the more alarming

Thirty-five years ago an American biologist Terry Erwin conducted an experiment to count insect species. Using an insecticide “fog”, he managed to extract all the small living things in the canopies of 19 individuals of one species of tropical tree, Luehea seemannii, in the rainforest of Panama. He recorded about 1,200 separate species, nearly all of them coleoptera (beetles) and many new to science; and he estimated that 163 of these would be found on Luehea seemannii only.

Insects Are Dying Off at an Alarming Rate

Forty percent of insect populations have seen declines in recent years and will drop even more without immediate action

Ecosystems can’t function without the millions of insects that make up the base of the food chain, and a new review in the journal Biological Conservation suggests human activity and climate change are chiseling away at those foundations.

The new study shows 41 percent of insect species have seen steep declines in the past decade, with similar drops forecast for the near future. It’s estimated that 40 percent of the 30 million or so insect species on earth are now threatened with extinction.

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Good for You | Good for Our Planet


Note: People who are allergic to shellfish may be allergic to bugs.