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Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

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Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#81

Post by anxkll »

masswerk wrote: post #63
LXanb wrote: post #37

There are loads of foxes and bats in big cities in Germany already. There are tons of insects as well. Humans are already not allowed to build anywhere because of environmental regulations (unless you are a corrupt politician) and to keep the rents high. Germany is getting more and more ridiculous. People must use energy saving bulbs to increase the profit for Philips, but one can legally burn 100l of fuel per day in…

Insects are kind of vital to us. Without them, you can't have crops or fruits, no agriculture. The drop in population is already concerning.

Drop according to whom? The people whose jobs depend on the alleged drop?

Yesterday I had 10 flies and 5 mosquitoes simultaneously in my room. What do the bats eat? They are everywhere.

There are more bats, foxes, rats and insects in big cities than ever before.

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#82

Post by echelon »

thatguy0900 wrote: post #16

I actually was sitting outside a few nights ago and realized that there was no more fireflies, and I couldn't remember the last time I had seen one. I used to go out all the time during summer as a kid to catch them, they would light up whole fields. That was just like 15 years ago. Pretty sobering realization

It's also past peak firefly season, which is mid May to early June in North America.

Georgia has lots of them. Or at least we did last year. I haven't gotten out much in the COVID-19 world.

A year without fireflies.

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#83

Post by Androider »

sonar_un wrote: post #65
jriot wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My backyard in Louisiana has quite a few of them at night. I see probably 20 - 50 a night back there.

My backyard in Louisiana has zero, zilch, nada. However; when I lived in NYC, I would see them all of the time on riverside.

Lots of fireflies in Central Park as well.

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#84

Post by wincy »

stephenhuey wrote: post #72
hn_check wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of fireflies in my yard. As prevalent as ever [1]. This is just an anecdote, but I give that anecdote as another person who lives in a somewhat rural location. Speaking of the lady bug explosion, this year they are incredibly rare [2]. Not sure why, but they went from being a massive nuisance to being a very rare sight (of any variety). Humans are absolutely having a calamitous effect on insect life in a varie…

Where are you, that I might voyage to your mystical land and once again gaze upon the gentle twinkle of firefly lights?

I saw a bunch last month here in Kansas City. I might get a lot more because I have a walking trail behind me, so there's no lights in my back yard.

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#85

Post by abstractbarista »

thatguy0900 wrote: post #16

I actually was sitting outside a few nights ago and realized that there was no more fireflies, and I couldn't remember the last time I had seen one. I used to go out all the time during summer as a kid to catch them, they would light up whole fields. That was just like 15 years ago. Pretty sobering realization

I saw more than I've seen in many years the other night. Seems to just depend on the area.

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#86

Post by wenc »

thatguy0900 wrote: post #16

I actually was sitting outside a few nights ago and realized that there was no more fireflies, and I couldn't remember the last time I had seen one. I used to go out all the time during summer as a kid to catch them, they would light up whole fields. That was just like 15 years ago. Pretty sobering realization

I'm in Chicago (in a neighborhood close to downtown) and in previous years I'd hardly ever seen any fireflies. This year, they're everywhere -- in parks and even in trees on neighborhood streets.

I understand fireflies are sensitive to light pollution. I can't imagine Chicago's any different from other major cities. COVID has people staying home a lot more but that has nothing to do with street lighting. I wonder what's going on.

I do think that living organisms are extraordinarily adaptable if the changes are gradual and bounded. Most of us have this idea that an ecosystem is this delicate and fragile thing, but nature actually has a lot of robustness and redundancies built-in (which are inefficient but increase chances of group survival).

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#87

Post by gre »

thatguy0900 wrote: post #16

I actually was sitting outside a few nights ago and realized that there was no more fireflies, and I couldn't remember the last time I had seen one. I used to go out all the time during summer as a kid to catch them, they would light up whole fields. That was just like 15 years ago. Pretty sobering realization

For me it's red wasps. Growing up in Texas there used to be so many, you could see them flying low searching for spiders in the grass. Last Sunday, in the heart of summer, I couldn't find a single red wasp where there used to be hundreds.

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#89

Post by LargoLasskhyfv »

luckylion wrote: post #62
LargoLasskhyfv wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ahem... I seem to recall that the masts of most streetlights are rather thin. Which meant that one could kick them a few times in ways that make the mast swing. Which could be rather large and abrupt swings at the top, which led to "Wackelkontakt"/ loss of contact, and thus darkness. It was even reversible! Your own personal kick switch for public street lights!

That's a good way to get in trouble, and rightfully so. We're not having streetlights because we want to kill insects, we have them for safety reasons. You do not want to travel in absolute darkness in a city with cars around. Trying to interfere with that because you're too lazy to buy a black-out curtain is a terrible idea.

What if I'd like to be able to see some stars from my bed? Furthermore, not every light, sign makes sense at the place it is. They are mostly stamped out at regular intervals "because we say so".

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#90

Post by masswerk »

anxkll wrote: post #81
masswerk wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insects are kind of vital to us. Without them, you can't have crops or fruits, no agriculture. The drop in population is already concerning.

Drop according to whom? The people whose jobs depend on the alleged drop? Yesterday I had 10 flies and 5 mosquitoes simultaneously in my room. What do the bats eat? They are everywhere. There are more bats, foxes, rats and insects in big cities than ever before.

If findings are true that insects are more attracted to cold light than traditional incandescent light sources, then it's small wonder you still find significant numbers of insects where all the cold light is emitted, even if they are killed on contact with those light sources or trapped by them (which is a significant problem with mating). Same should be true for any species which follows insects as a source of food.
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