Where have all the insects gone? • Hacker News Board

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#11

Post by boringg » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 5:18 PM UTC

OtomotO wrote: post #4

babycake wrote: post #3

[flagged]

Just a few apes on a spacerock, good riddance. Good luck to the next dominant species, I hope you get past the great filter!

Haven't head that one before - its fantastically accurate.

A few apes on a spacerock. Even with all our cleverness thats all we really are :)

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#12

Post by boringg » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 5:19 PM UTC

Anecdotally this year - almost no insects in our backyard. It was great for being outside but also really creepy. Could be a one year thing here but still noteworthy.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#13

Post by HenryKissinger » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 5:19 PM UTC

daenz wrote: post #7

Sometimes I get the sense that people hate that we exist, in the numbers that we do, because of our impact on the earth by merely existing. A self-hatred if you will. And before you respond with "if only we did X, it would be fine," consider that the difficulty of convincing/coercing lots of people to do things is also an inherent part of our existence. Also part of our existence is the incentive to cheat to get ahea…

> Sometimes I get the sense that people hate that we exist, in the numbers that we do, because of our impact on the earth by merely existing.

I thought you were trying to speak for the insect kingdom here for a moment.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#14

Post by tw04 » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 5:20 PM UTC

daenz wrote: post #7

Sometimes I get the sense that people hate that we exist, in the numbers that we do, because of our impact on the earth by merely existing. A self-hatred if you will. And before you respond with "if only we did X, it would be fine," consider that the difficulty of convincing/coercing lots of people to do things is also an inherent part of our existence. Also part of our existence is the incentive to cheat to get ahea…

>We can't live like native Americans with iPhones.

We probably could in the next 100 years through automation, massive reduction in population, and making things to last instead of making things to be replaced. Building a society whose values aren't based around never-ending growth.

We won't, but we could.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#15

Post by the-dude » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 5:20 PM UTC

We had remarkably much insects this year in The Netherlands.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#16

Post by Hokusai » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 5:25 PM UTC

Not just insects. Where I used to live even birds had left. A decade of stronger regulations and cleaning the closer by river made animals come back. And the river started to look less like a sewer and more like a river. The pollution that kills insects is not good for humans either.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#17

Post by ashtonkem » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 5:25 PM UTC

missedthecue wrote: post #8

babycake wrote: post #3

[flagged]

If only the government had nationalised industry, these bugs would be alive?

[flagged]

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#18

Post by mistrial9 » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 5:25 PM UTC

daenz wrote: post #7

Sometimes I get the sense that people hate that we exist, in the numbers that we do, because of our impact on the earth by merely existing. A self-hatred if you will. And before you respond with "if only we did X, it would be fine," consider that the difficulty of convincing/coercing lots of people to do things is also an inherent part of our existence. Also part of our existence is the incentive to cheat to get ahea…

Insects are seriously part of eco-system, what part of that is not important?

pp remarkably off-topic and additionally self-defeating.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#19

Post by stinos » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 5:25 PM UTC

the-dude wrote: post #15

We had remarkably much insects this year in The Netherlands.

That was due to the weather: very good in srping, no huge heatwaves killing insects and plants, enough rain, and in some places even too much and circumstances became superb for mosquitos.

Re: Where have all the insects gone?

#20

Post by tw04 » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 5:28 PM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #5

Sometimes I don't know what to believe. Wasn't there a counterpoint posted here on HN a while back? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24133315

Without the full article it's tough to say, but my refute would be about my local environment. There has absolutely been a MASSIVE decline in NATIVE insects (among other things). Instead we have more asian beetles, emerald ash borers, and japanese beetles than you can shake a stick at. So while yes, technically the numbers may remain neutral, I'm not sure we can call it a healthy distribution.