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Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

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Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#281

Post by mjhay »

cad1 wrote: post #134
alphabetting wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what significant effects could there be on ecosystems by a decline in bugs? (I'm sure there are some, just curious)

Think of a food chain, bugs are near the bottom meaning they are a food source for many other creatures like birds, reptiles, small mammals, fish. Fewer bugs means less food for mice, that means fewer mice, leads to less food for snakes, leads to fewer snakes, leads to less food for birds of prey, leads to fewer birds of prey. There are many chains like this where bugs are a vital source of food. If there were zero b…

Also, a huge portion of food production is dependent on bees and other pollinators.

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#282

Post by zeruch »

nathan_compton wrote: post #263
namaria wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no salvation. Whatever was Earth before human civilization is in a death spiral. What comes next is anyone's guess. Elites are massing wealth to get off planet, and when the mass migrations really start and mid income countries start becoming failed states on their path, I hope you are in a place that can hold you safe for the remainder of your time here.

If elites think they can move off planet and somehow survive a total collapse of earth's ecosystems, they are in for a rude awakening. An independent colony able to maintain its inhabitants in any kind of comfort will be dependent on the earth for the foreseeable future. Its actually difficult for me to believe that any elite would be stupid enough to think they could survive an earth environmental catastrophe in spa…

"Its actually difficult for me to believe that any elite would be stupid enough to think they could survive an earth environmental catastrophe in space." You underestimate the raw power of untethered hubris, fueled by venality.

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#283

Post by javajosh »

namaria wrote: post #272
bmitc wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an interesting perspective. In many ways, it seems to me that evolution did not or cannot account for technological development. I have been trying to read more about what makes life go, and it seems it's highly related to thermodynamics and information theory. Are you proposing that any life will eventually discover technology (namely the ability to access and manipulate stored energy and also computation)? I…

Whatever we call technology is as natural a process as everything else systems in our Universe cobble together. I see no difference between termite mounds and the Internet. All is bound by the laws of physics. The same processes created complex monkey brains create datacenters. Physics is very clear: only things that are thermodinamically downhill can happen. Human civilization is just a natural, 4D phenomenon we get…

That's just because humans have not yet acted coherently yet as a species. There are all kinds of scenarios likely and unlikely that can unfold and none of us know what they are. Nature may be indifferent but she does seem to give us every chance.

By the way, I think you're in a tiny minority if you believe there is no distinction between things that evolve and things that are designed.

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#284

Post by naasking »

ls15 wrote: post #277
naasking wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Around me, its seems like slowly everyone is starting to doubt/deny the impact of nitrogen and whether it's something we need to care about. I'm not sure why that's surprising. Our food supply depends on using nitrogen at the moment. You can't just ban it cold-turkey without transitioning to an alternative that doesn't threaten the food supply. Particularly with inflation issues, further destabilizing the food supp…

> Our food supply depends on using nitrogen at the moment. And it always will, since all plants require nitrogen for growing.

Sure, but there might be better formulations that don't release as much nitrous oxide, which is the greenhouse gas of concern.

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#285

Post by bcrosby95 »

namaria wrote: post #250
bmitc wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what's crazy is that everyone thinks it's going to be electric cars that somehow saves us. When the fact of the matter is there is a ton of stuff we can start doing today that would positively impact the environment. It's pretty easy: * Restore lawn areas to native plants: small (wildflowers), medium (bushes), big (trees) * For areas that are kept as lawn, simply mow less. Allow plants to flower. Don't treat clov…

There is no salvation. Whatever was Earth before human civilization is in a death spiral. What comes next is anyone's guess. Elites are massing wealth to get off planet, and when the mass migrations really start and mid income countries start becoming failed states on their path, I hope you are in a place that can hold you safe for the remainder of your time here.

I hate to break it to you, but Earth before humans has largely been dead for hundreds or thousands of years, depending upon the exact region you're talking about.

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#286

Post by dilap »

namaria wrote: post #250
bmitc wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what's crazy is that everyone thinks it's going to be electric cars that somehow saves us. When the fact of the matter is there is a ton of stuff we can start doing today that would positively impact the environment. It's pretty easy: * Restore lawn areas to native plants: small (wildflowers), medium (bushes), big (trees) * For areas that are kept as lawn, simply mow less. Allow plants to flower. Don't treat clov…

There is no salvation. Whatever was Earth before human civilization is in a death spiral. What comes next is anyone's guess. Elites are massing wealth to get off planet, and when the mass migrations really start and mid income countries start becoming failed states on their path, I hope you are in a place that can hold you safe for the remainder of your time here.

If you watch high-altitude time-lapse photography, human settlements look exactly like a mold infestation. We spread as much as we can, and eventually we'll collapse as we exhaust resources.

The earth won't "care", it'll just be another of the many boom-bust cycles in the history of nature. We're part of it.

It's not going to be pleasant for the humans and animals that live through it, though!

While we have enough individual intelligence to see this is coming, and wish to avoid it, I don't think we collectively have the intelligence to do so. A crowd of humans has its own dynamics and kind of thought, and so far, these crowds are very short-sighted and prone to all sorts of irrationalities and hysterias.

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#287

Post by BenjiWiebe »

donkeyd wrote: post #172
jvm___ wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NY state has a long running study where on July 15th every year they would put up a super bright lighthouse bulb in the middle of the woods and put it over a tarp. After they night they'd weigh the physical mass of insect life that had come to the light, and died, overnight. I forget the exact %, but they'd seen a 50 or 60 percent reduction in mass since the 70's, some depressingly high number.

I don't think this would stop anyone from using the evolution argument, since in their mind this would just show that they evolved to not fly towards the deadly light.

One bulb, one night, once a year wouldn't be enough to select for light avoidance.

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#288

Post by namaria »

bcrosby95 wrote: post #285
namaria wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no salvation. Whatever was Earth before human civilization is in a death spiral. What comes next is anyone's guess. Elites are massing wealth to get off planet, and when the mass migrations really start and mid income countries start becoming failed states on their path, I hope you are in a place that can hold you safe for the remainder of your time here.

I hate to break it to you, but Earth before humans has largely been dead for hundreds or thousands of years, depending upon the exact region you're talking about.

lol talk about human centric dellusions and an example walks into the conversation

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#289

Post by sillystuff »

Cryptonic wrote: post #253
namaria wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no salvation. Whatever was Earth before human civilization is in a death spiral. What comes next is anyone's guess. Elites are massing wealth to get off planet, and when the mass migrations really start and mid income countries start becoming failed states on their path, I hope you are in a place that can hold you safe for the remainder of your time here.

I think it's a fantasy of the elites. There is no planet B. Not in the time frame we talk about. By far.

As long as the elites believe they have a plan B, whether it be New Zealand or Mars, they will not make the sacrifices necessary to avert disaster.

The author writes on his experience with a group of elites who were seeking ways to protect their positions in the face of collapse (societal / ecological / etc.). Salvation will not come from the top.

https://archive.ph/AABsP

original: https://onezero.medium.com/survival-of-the-richest-9ef6cddd0...

Re: Why are there so few dead bugs on windshields these days?

#290

Post by naasking »

wartijn_ wrote: post #252
naasking wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I admit find this response confusing. Given that climate change is the primary reason for restricting nitrogen fertilizer, it's implicit that the farmers are contributing to climate change. Are the people claiming that the farmers are being blamed for climate change saying that the farmers are the only or primary driver for climate change? That would obviously be incorrect, but the former claim is absolutely correct.…

> Are the people claiming that the farmers are being blamed for climate change saying that the farmers are the only or primary driver for climate change? All the comments in this thread are replies to someone who seems to do exactly that by defending farmers "visiting politicians their homes with torches, threatening them and explicitly their kids, blockading highways with burning rubble, blocking highways with asbes…

Ok, but one HN comment is not a misinformation trend throughout right wing media, per the parent comment.
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