This year about half the apples in our garden were devoured by insect and microbial predators. You could say this is the natural condition for producing organic food. The pristine ones marketed for sale are there courtesy of the 2.8 million tons of pesticide (2009. Is it more or less now?) used to fend off such attacks. Have we properly assessed the true cost of our food?
Study shows massive insect loss
121–130 of 213 posts
Re: Study shows massive insect loss
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And so, slowly, we boil. Climate changing power, without the wisdom to wield it, is as plausible a Great Filter as anything. Hard to develop a space program when you're spending all your production fighting over scarce resources, plugging leaks, and attempting to feed a planet with decreasing yields. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter
I had two daughters before I came to the conclusion that this is the most likely path for humanity at this point. There is a possibility of a global awakening that might prevent this tragic loss of megafauna. But I'm already a vegan and don't drive much; can't think of more to do, and while I'm not too bad at dealing with this, it can be quite depressing.
That's barely the tip of the iceberg of what to do.
Public transportation or bicycling, avoiding one-time non-consumable items (one-time plates, forks, cups, cup-lids, straws, etc. are an absolute no-go—which means boycutting starbucks and similar if necessary), recycling, rallying against use of polluting materials (less polypropylene and soft plastic packaging in super-markets, for example), less materialistic imports (container ships use the nastiest oils to operate, as international waters have no emission regulations), thinking of ways to make being environmentally friendly simpler, etc.
And even more importantly, getting others to do the same. The difference from one person doing all this right will just be a drop of water in the ocean. If it does not spread, it does not matter.
Also, as someone who cares about the environment, I would suggest not putting vegan up front as your efforts. Regardless of cause or effect, "vegan" carries a stigma. "Vegetarian" communicates what is needed if the idea is to reduce pollution from cattle farming, and it is less likely to cause instant dismissal.
And, also, while replacing meat with vegetable farming has fewer gas emissions than cattle farming, that still does not deal with our farming techniques being unsustainable, or that many types of farming causing massive deforestation (soy, anyone?). Nor does it reduce massive oil pollution, stop the oceans from filling with microplastics, etc.
It's but one small thing on a very long list of things we need to fix.
Re: Study shows massive insect loss
#123My wife and I leave large portions of our lawn untended. We seed ours with flowering native plants and herbs. We had fireflies and butterflies and bees galore this year— noticeably more than any of our neighbors. It’s not much, but it’s something.
This is what needs to happen a lot more - just let nature do its thing. I'm seeing too much cultivation on the one hand - maximize yield and convenience for farmers, and of course mass deforestation - but on the other, overcompensation or wild ideas to overcompensate - from planting forests (which is fine as long as they're left alone for the hundred years afterwards) to wild ideas of covering glaciers and the north pole in reflecting plastics, or what China's doing, creating artificial rain at a huge scale.
Intervention just doesn't work; just leave your land barren and unattended, that'll give the best results. Maybe not the most desireable for you personally but that's just not important.
Re: Study shows massive insect loss
#124My dad claims that the bugs come and go in cycles and says he has seen so several times over his life. He believes that we are just in a period of low bug population and that at any time there could and will be a population explosion. Personally I am not so optimistic. My dad moved around multiple times over his life and I would suspect different areas would naturally have varying bug densities and that is why he fel…
You're not wrong; insect populations can grow enormously in a very short amount of time (just like e.g. mice). But they need to have had the chance.
I wonder what would happen if a country banned the use of pesticides for one year. Probably a huge imbalance at first, but over time things would stabilize - that is, huge bug explosion, but in the span of a few years, bird population would be restored which keeps the bug population in check. Well, in my climate anyway, not much to be done about huge locust swarms by some birds.
Re: Study shows massive insect loss
#125Re: Study shows massive insect loss
#126Years ago, my family used to drive to our grandparents' village in hot, summer Friday nights. The windshield ended so pestered with dead bugs that the first task on Saturday morning was to drive the car to the river to clean it. I remember it vividly because it was so fun to wash the car with the cold river water. Last August I went stargazing with my wife. We chose a secluded area because it was far away from light…
I live in a ruralish area in Brazil... And while talking to someone on webcam I noticed a couple hugs wandering around the person room and the person in question not caring at all...
Then we I was wondering about it, I realized that been some years that my house despite being near some woods and rivers, is not plagued anymore by insects. I think last time we bothered with anti mosquito candles was 3 years ago...
Re: Study shows massive insect loss
#127Years ago, my family used to drive to our grandparents' village in hot, summer Friday nights. The windshield ended so pestered with dead bugs that the first task on Saturday morning was to drive the car to the river to clean it. I remember it vividly because it was so fun to wash the car with the cold river water. Last August I went stargazing with my wife. We chose a secluded area because it was far away from light…
I've been in this same thread a few months back. Insect loss is definitely happening, but bear in mind your lack of splatter probably also has a lot to do with better aerodynamics of cars these days. Bugs blow over the windshield on modern cars, they don't tend to splat as often. I live in an area with swarms of insects and i never have to clean anything off these days.
EDIT: Out walking my kids while i write this and i just swallowed a bug :(
Re: Study shows massive insect loss
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
That the environment could slowly transition its chemistry into a state which is not suitable for life is one of my biggest fears. It would be a silent killer.
I am not convinced that life on the planet will survive. We could very well turn into Venus. Maybe we did already. In previous cataclysmic events, life was spread en masse to low earth orbit, to return after the fires died down and the earth cooled off. We have no such seed bank in orbit now.
We do not know for a fact that life does not exist on Venus, though.
Re: Study shows massive insect loss
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
Large agriculture has been an ecological disaster for decades. Pesticides, fertilizer runoff, heavy usage of herbicides, water mismanagement and foolish introductions of non-native species to counteract invasive pests making situations worse. Pollution, pollution, pollution. Is climate change making some kind of impact? Possibly. But it pales in comparison with reckless use of poisons and chemicals.
TFA is about a roughly 80% drop in biomass in a pristine, protected tropical rainforest, in a country where pesticide use has dropped 80 percent.
How about delayed effects? I can't read the article, but does the article mention what the natural decay rate of these pesticides is?
Re: Study shows massive insect loss
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had two daughters before I came to the conclusion that this is the most likely path for humanity at this point. There is a possibility of a global awakening that might prevent this tragic loss of megafauna. But I'm already a vegan and don't drive much; can't think of more to do, and while I'm not too bad at dealing with this, it can be quite depressing.
That's barely the tip of the iceberg of what to do. Public transportation or bicycling, avoiding one-time non-consumable items (one-time plates, forks, cups, cup-lids, straws, etc. are an absolute no-go—which means boycutting starbucks and similar if necessary), recycling, rallying against use of polluting materials (less polypropylene and soft plastic packaging in super-markets, for example), less materialistic impo…
Spreading behaviour is so important. Which means it's important to make it "cool" to be environmentally conscious. I think people sometimes underestimate the cool factor when it comes to spreading ideas.