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Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study

nationalgeographic.com

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Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study

#11

Post by korpiq »

jlangenauer wrote: post #2

If I ever get rich enough to do so, I'm going to buy some land somewhere - perhaps old farming land that's no longer profitable, and just let it return to nature. Let the trees and bushes grow, let the insects, birds and whatever else breed there. I'm beginning to think that's one of the best things one could do for the planet right now.

There are organisations varying from grassroots to global where you can participate in such purchases with nominal sums, and end up with small parts of land in your name, collectively owned with other participants, or probably something in between.

Here is one (that I know about because my employer currently offers an option to use some of our open source contribution rewards for that): https://www.helsinkifoundation.org/

Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study

#12

Post by georgebarnett »

I do wonder sometimes when self preservation will kick in and put a stop to this kind of stupidity.

I mean - surely the executives of those companies eat food right?

Not to mention the lawsuits as big ag realises that their cash cows have been killed by an one of their suppliers products.

Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study

#13

Post by Jolter »

thinkingkong wrote: post #5

Its almost as though were doing this massive unconscious experiment where we take every natural process, call it an economic externality, then proceed to slap a price on it by building technology that mimics it. What replaces the service bees provide?

Rental bees, obviously. It's a major industry across the US.

Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study

#14

Post by mhandley »

The EU banned field use of neonicotinoid pesticides from the start of this year. Is there evidence yet that insect populations within the EU are recovering this year? It's too early for scientific publications to have come out, but if you live in an agricultural area of the EU, have you observed a difference?

Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study

#15

Post by timClicks »

thinkingkong wrote: post #5

Its almost as though were doing this massive unconscious experiment where we take every natural process, call it an economic externality, then proceed to slap a price on it by building technology that mimics it. What replaces the service bees provide?

Sure enough, there are jobs for pollinating cash crops by hand. Vanilla has been like this for decades.

Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study

#16

Post by korpiq »

atoav wrote: post #3
jlangenauer wrote: post #2

If I ever get rich enough to do so, I'm going to buy some land somewhere - perhaps old farming land that's no longer profitable, and just let it return to nature. Let the trees and bushes grow, let the insects, birds and whatever else breed there. I'm beginning to think that's one of the best things one could do for the planet right now.

Planting trees on it would even help more (if it is a climate zone where that is realistic). I heard an Interview with the founder of the ecosia search machine yesterday, and they are looking for tree planting initiatives constantly..

For that, I'd be interested in Paulownia trees for their fast growing speed, and thus (I assume) faster CO2 reduction rate.

1) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulownia_tomentosa is also rapid to spread, which may turn out too rad for local flora or neighborhood politics thereof, while

2) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulownia_elongata seems not to spread on its own and thus may need active help for that.

You'll end up with a lot of soft wood from these relatively fast (10 years?). That should be used in some way that does not release the CO2 back.

I have no studies nor experience in biology nor gardening and all of this is only based on what I've been reading on the internet.

Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study

#17

Post by code_duck »

thinkingkong wrote: post #5

Its almost as though were doing this massive unconscious experiment where we take every natural process, call it an economic externality, then proceed to slap a price on it by building technology that mimics it. What replaces the service bees provide?

No problem, robo-bee drones can do that! https://www.newscientist.com/article/2120832-robotic-bee-cou...

Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study

#18

Post by korpiq »

mhandley wrote: post #14

The EU banned field use of neonicotinoid pesticides from the start of this year. Is there evidence yet that insect populations within the EU are recovering this year? It's too early for scientific publications to have come out, but if you live in an agricultural area of the EU, have you observed a difference?

1000 days in circulation means we'll have to wait at least 4 summers to start seeing a change, I'd wager. Also, it might depend on where there are different types of insects currently, and how successful they happen to be in reproduction and spreading over time.

Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study

#19

Post by romaaeterna »

Neonicotinoids are new since 1994, so they get pointed to as the cause of Honeybee collapse, because what else could it be?

Well, a lot of things can cause a decline in insect populations, including non-human mediated things like new diseases, new parasites, or new competitors.

And there are some good reasons to think that neonicotinoids are unlikely to be a serious cause after all.

https://i.imgur.com/HaWyRr7.png

What's the cost of getting this wrong? You make farming more expensive overall, which means more CO2 emissions to grow the same amount of food, if you go in for that sort of thing.

Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study

#20

Post by DanBC »

jlangenauer wrote: post #2

If I ever get rich enough to do so, I'm going to buy some land somewhere - perhaps old farming land that's no longer profitable, and just let it return to nature. Let the trees and bushes grow, let the insects, birds and whatever else breed there. I'm beginning to think that's one of the best things one could do for the planet right now.

My current favourite youtube channel is "Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't". He swears a lot. But he appears to know a lot about botany and a fair amount about geology. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3CBOpT2-NRvoc2ecFMDCsA

I thought you might enjoy this video about "kill your lawn" and native Illinois prairie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz9I2YwmV8M

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