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Where have all the insects gone?

sciencemag.org

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Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#21

Post by jballanc »

Daishiman wrote: post #13

So when will people stop minimizing that, literally, the planet is dying?

The planet isn't dying. The planet is just a ball of rock running loops around the gravity well of the closest star.

We are, however, in the midst of the sixth great extinction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction . The evidence for this is pretty dang convincing, even independent of things like global climate change, and it has been going on for quite a while now, starting with the disappearance of mega-fauna from the American continent.

If you do find anyone attempting to "minimize" this fact, you might try pointing something out: each prior great extinction was accompanied by a replacement of the "dominant" species on the Earth. As the current reigning "dominant" species, this seems like something that might be very concerning to humans...

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#22

Post by strictnein »

> 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1—with some pretty sleek lines. "I used to have to wash my car all the time. It was always covered with insects." Lately, Martin Sorg, an entomologist here, has seen the opposite: "I drive a Land Rover, with the aerodynamics of a refrigerator"

It wouldn't surprise me at all if a modern Land Rover was more aerodynamic than a 1969 Mustang. The Land Rover wouldn't look it of course, but the 1969 Mustang had a pretty steep windshield and a front that probably did lots of crazy stuff to the air:

http://cdn.barrett-jackson.com/staging/carlist/items/Fullsiz...

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#23

Post by aruggirello »

VA3FXP wrote: post #18
Daishiman wrote: post #13

So when will people stop minimizing that, literally, the planet is dying?

When will people stop with this hyperbole? The planet; as-in this rocky, water-world orbiting Sol, will exist for BILLIONS of years. The _life_ on this planet AS WE KNOW IT is dying, along with ourselves. That is a huge difference and one that needs to be repeated with as much clarity as possible. Will homo-sapiens still exist in 10,000 years? maybe. 100,000 years? doubtful. 1,000,000 years? nope. Will single-celled…

Except that this time the disaster has probably little to do with nature. I'd add that, given current situation, 10,000 years seems a bit of a stretch. IMHO it's more like 100 years to the first "maybe" - or more probably even a fraction of that.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#24

Post by AlexandrB »

fivestar wrote: post #19
wycke wrote: post #6

I wonder what the long-term impacts of so many homeowners applying lawncare chemicals will have. It just seems like a bad idea to spray chemicals all over the lawn, yet so many do it it. I also wonder how many are over-applying, thus making matters worse. Any thoughts on how to change people's mindsets. It seems herd mentality has taken over, even though most likely know this is not healthy or environmentally friendl…

I doubt it has much to do with homeowners and lawn care. If anything, it has to do with the thousands of square miles of cropland that gets sprayed for insects each year. Then again, you get outside any of the cities and the windshield gets bug splattered as always. Trillions upon trillions of insects versus humanity? I'd bet on the insects.

> Trillions upon trillions of insects versus humanity? I'd bet on the insects.

Yup, we'll just be left with the insects that can adapt quickly - cockroaches, aphids, ants - and not the insects we need/want - bees, butterflies, etc.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#25

Post by AlexandrB »

tcfunk wrote: post #17
perseusprime11 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lawns, in general, are not environment-friendly because of the need to use fuel to cut it and for spraying chemicals to keep the weeds and mosquitoes out. I lost the battle with my HOA to completely take the lawn out and instead just plant some useful trees. People don't realize how much money they spend on a 30 year basis to keep the lawns healthy.

I don't understand why more people don't use push reel lawnmowers. I've used one ever since I stopped living in apartments, and they are not that difficult to use. They are lighter-weight than their gas-powered cousins, and you don't have to fill it up with gas every damn time you mow. Also it doesn't make 9000dB of noise.

I use electric. Has most of the advantages of a push mower with the added benefit of easier cutting. Just have to watch for the cord.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#26

Post by aruggirello »

ashark wrote: post #9

Interesting. So maybe it wasn't just my imagination. I remember butterflies being everywhere in Spring in this area when I was a kid. Fields and air full of 'em for weeks. Monarchs especially, but all kinds. I haven't seen that kind of thing even once in probably a decade, at least. And the windshield thing. I hadn't really thought about it, but I remember my parents having to scrape the windshield just about every g…

> So maybe it wasn't just my imagination.

And mine. BTW I was wondering what use will be that famous "ark" they're building with seeds - in a world without insects for pollination? Like having a backup of half of your data only...

Edit: clarified.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like eating insects is all the rage when it comes to talking about the future of food...?

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#27

Post by dbmikus »

jballanc wrote: post #21
Daishiman wrote: post #13

So when will people stop minimizing that, literally, the planet is dying?

The planet isn't dying. The planet is just a ball of rock running loops around the gravity well of the closest star. We are, however, in the midst of the sixth great extinction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction . The evidence for this is pretty dang convincing, even independent of things like global climate change, and it has been going on for quite a while now, starting with the disappearance of meg…

> each prior great extinction was accompanied by a replacement of the "dominant" species on the Earth. As the current reigning "dominant" species, this seems like something that might be very concerning to humans...

Except this time we are the cause of the extinction. I think that's a pretty important difference.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#28

Post by jostmey »

fivestar wrote: post #19
wycke wrote: post #6

I wonder what the long-term impacts of so many homeowners applying lawncare chemicals will have. It just seems like a bad idea to spray chemicals all over the lawn, yet so many do it it. I also wonder how many are over-applying, thus making matters worse. Any thoughts on how to change people's mindsets. It seems herd mentality has taken over, even though most likely know this is not healthy or environmentally friendl…

I doubt it has much to do with homeowners and lawn care. If anything, it has to do with the thousands of square miles of cropland that gets sprayed for insects each year. Then again, you get outside any of the cities and the windshield gets bug splattered as always. Trillions upon trillions of insects versus humanity? I'd bet on the insects.

This belief that nature has control over the planet is sadly mistaken. If humanity wanted to, it could nuke the planet eliminating all insect life. Humanity has invented things far beyond the reach of nature and far beyond what nature can cope with.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#29

Post by Arizhel »

jostmey wrote: post #8

"The mass of insects collected by monitoring traps in the Orbroicher Bruch nature reserve in northwest Germany dropped by 78% in 24 years". That number is scary. If that number is even close to the same across the world, the planet is in more trouble than anyone realizes

This is rather worrisome, but I sure didn't see any lack of mosquitoes last summer :-(

Maybe this is affecting the "good" insects while the "bad" ones are thriving...

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#30

Post by TimJYoung »

AlexandrB wrote: post #25
tcfunk wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why more people don't use push reel lawnmowers. I've used one ever since I stopped living in apartments, and they are not that difficult to use. They are lighter-weight than their gas-powered cousins, and you don't have to fill it up with gas every damn time you mow. Also it doesn't make 9000dB of noise.

I use electric. Has most of the advantages of a push mower with the added benefit of easier cutting. Just have to watch for the cord.

Same here. It's great - I never go to get the mower out, only to find that it's out of gas. Plus, it's a bit quieter.
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