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Study shows glyphosate impairs learning in bumblebees

phys.org

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Re: Study shows glyphosate impairs learning in bumblebees

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't really care what the rest of the world whines about thank you for clarifying your point of view so well

To be fair, you’re quoting only half the sentence when the second part of that sentence justifies/qualifies it rather well.

Justification for indifference is on par with justification for ignorance, only is more nihilistic in its apathy for others and their plight. If you seek justification to not care about a thing which others care about, your interaction with them is patently malevolent. If, indeed, care is not given, then no statement should be made, and shutting up is how to be both honest and accurate.

Re: Study shows glyphosate impairs learning in bumblebees

#63

What about triclopyr? To try to answer my own question it seems that this page at least suggests that it is non-toxic: https://www.ncagr.gov/pollinators/documents/Bee%20Pesticide%... Also it looks like the red and maybe yellow sections of that list should get banned in favor of the green. If there's that many alternatives, we should really force people to switch.

Efficacy is not a column on that chart

Re: Study shows glyphosate impairs learning in bumblebees

#66

There are applications where glyphosate is perfectly appropriate. The issues with it arise when A) farmers use it as a crop dissicant in large quantities to make their crops cheaper to harvest, outside the spec of the product and B) when it's used in unsuitable soil, temperature, and humidity conditions. In the right conditions it has a half life of a few days and will be completely inert in a couple of weeks. This i…

what if the price is significantly increased rates of lymphoma amongst the human population?

Re: Study shows glyphosate impairs learning in bumblebees

#67

There are applications where glyphosate is perfectly appropriate. The issues with it arise when A) farmers use it as a crop dissicant in large quantities to make their crops cheaper to harvest, outside the spec of the product and B) when it's used in unsuitable soil, temperature, and humidity conditions. In the right conditions it has a half life of a few days and will be completely inert in a couple of weeks. This i…

A - Doesn't sound like enough advantage over disadvantage. B - Sounds like it would need regulation? Who is making sure farmers are using it in this manner? It isn't just bumblebee impairment. Entire colonies die. Bumblebees are needed to pollinate a large percentage of our food -> Hence not a "rational decision". TO say nothing of impact on humans, and the half life in water runoff.

Yes. Both points A and B could benefit from regulation. A lot of things we do kill animals, insects, and plants. The house or office you're sitting in displaced a great deal of natural biosphere. It emitted and emits a great deal of carbon. Should we tear that down too?

No, obviously not, because we enjoy living. You can't ignore those same tradeoffs when they happen to not be taking place in your back yard.

We can make sensible regulation to minimize our impact but sometimes we need to make an impact to extract resources, just how it is.

Re: Study shows glyphosate impairs learning in bumblebees

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US bulk agriculture exports are what keep vast swathes of the developing world from starving. GMOs, herbicides and pesticides are how the US produces immense quantities of cheap food for the rest of the world [1]. I don't really care what the rest of the world whines about, when the US is the country actually keeping millions of the global poor alive. [1] https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/international-markets-u-s-tr..…

US bulk agriculture exports are what keep vast swathes of the developing world from sustaining themselves. Wheat, corn and other heavily subsidized crops are how countries are incentivized producing cash crops like coffee, tea and Kat instead of food. I don't really understand why the rest of the world doesn't whine, when the US is the country actually keeping millions of the global population poor.

Thomas Sankara said it better: https://twitter.com/Beardington/status/1685213481010667520?s...
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