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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

#121

Post by Izkata »

nashalo_nighly wrote: post #107
cmrdporcupine wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We live rural southern Ontario and fireflies are usually just a single weekend or so at the end of June or beginning of July. But this year they went on for almost two months. They only just stopped about a week ago. I'm not sure why it was a good season for them. Like you say, traffic, lighting, pesticide sprays on farms, all really the same despite COVID. Reduced air traffic I don't think would have an affect? Even…

I feel that I hear people say « we’re having a unusually hot dry year » every year...

On that note I just did a Google search for "more fireflies this year" and got news articles saying as much from 2018, 2019, and 2020.

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

#122

Post by blackoil »

burlesona wrote: post #29
thiago_fm wrote: post #10

I wonder how many centuries it might take for the US to start to care about insects or the environment like some European countries do with the recent regress in policies overall that isn't about ONLY increasing overall GDP in the US. And I say this even not considering Trump, which is a big menace. But democrat candidates in the US also don't care about the environment, not showing much promise. So do the Americans…

I often hear Europeans make sweeping judgements about the US that reflect a lack of understanding of the country and continent. In part I think this is because most visitors from abroad only travel to NYC, SF, or LA, which are great cities, but not representative of the majority of the country. Incredible as this may sound, around half of the US land area is completely uninhabited. Fully 1/3 of the land is owned by t…

US tops in per capita beef, petrol and energy consumption. So it is not odd to build such a perception.

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

#123

Post by veddox »

Glad to see they're on to this. However, I gather that this is still a "Referentenentwurf" - i.e. a first draft written up by the ministry staff. This still needs to be approved by the cabinet before even going into parliamentary proceedings. So it's hard to say just how much will actually come of this.

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

#125

Post by gamblor956 »

thiago_fm wrote: post #10

I wonder how many centuries it might take for the US to start to care about insects or the environment like some European countries do with the recent regress in policies overall that isn't about ONLY increasing overall GDP in the US. And I say this even not considering Trump, which is a big menace. But democrat candidates in the US also don't care about the environment, not showing much promise. So do the Americans…

The states of California and Alaska each individually have more wild forest lands than the entire European continent.

The US created the concept of state-protected wilderness reserves and national parks.

The US was the driving force behind the Kyoto Protocol, and the originating nation of solar power, wind power, and nuclear power.

California leads the world in automobile fuel economy targets, and the US as a whole has cleaner-burning fuel than the EU, which for bizarre reasons settled on diesel as their standard even though it's far worse for the air than gasoline.

Europe's pretty far behind in caring about the environment.

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

#126

Post by azinman2 »

bluntfang wrote: post #118
zackmorris wrote: post #109

The best thing we can do on a personal level is to stop using broadleaf weedkillers like Scott's Weed and Feed and other herbicides like glyphosate (Roundup). I've been doing handyman work at my boss's house during COVID-19 and he has clover growing in his yard. He has a fair number of bees, certainly more than on my end of town which is all chemlawns. It's arguably ok to use a little weed killer by hand on dandelion…

any suggestions for a poison ivy patch? I'm doing the rounds of vinegar and placing tarps/boxes over the area, trying to avoid the nuclear option.

Can you not dig it up?

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

#127

Post by luckylion »

shekharshan wrote: post #120

"Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment; but you humans do not. Instead you multiply, and multiply, until every resource is consumed. The only way for you to survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern... a virus" -- Agent Smith (The Matrix)

Well ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Matthew_Island#Mammals

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

#128

Post by luckylion »

LargoLasskhyfv wrote: post #89
luckylion wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

> What if I'd like to be able to see some stars from my bed?

"My comfort should trump everyone's safety"? Still no.

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

#129

Post by tengbretson »

zackmorris wrote: post #109

The best thing we can do on a personal level is to stop using broadleaf weedkillers like Scott's Weed and Feed and other herbicides like glyphosate (Roundup). I've been doing handyman work at my boss's house during COVID-19 and he has clover growing in his yard. He has a fair number of bees, certainly more than on my end of town which is all chemlawns. It's arguably ok to use a little weed killer by hand on dandelion…

Was reserving lawns for humans and all of the countryside for bees not already a pretty sweet deal? How are we being out-negotiated by insects?

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

#130

Post by shekharshan »

luckylion wrote: post #127
shekharshan wrote: post #120

"Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment; but you humans do not. Instead you multiply, and multiply, until every resource is consumed. The only way for you to survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern... a virus" -- Agent Smith (The Matrix)

Well ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Matthew_Island#Mammals

Exactly, we are getting overconfident in our ability to control the planet and its resources. I believe we are privileged to share this planet with other beings. Instead we treat animals like some kind of inanimate resource.
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