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75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas

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Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas

#301

Post by delbel »

analogic wrote: post #56
ashark wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Monarchs used to be a "oh cool, look, it's the 50-100 monarchs in that field which we'll see a couple times a week for the whole season" thing here. Now it's "holy crap, it's our one single monarch butterfly of the year!" thing.

Not getting my hopes up, but have seen more this year (Ohio) than I remember seeing in a long time. As in, like maybe 4-5 instead of 1-2, but I'll take it.

replying to your comment, I have seen hundreds of monarch butterflies this year. so many, my cat has given up and runs away. I have problems walking around. There are also dozens of other types of butterflies. Like I said you have to stop when you are walking and let them fly away 30-50 at a time. I actively look where I walk because I don't want to run into them, like in-my-face-there-are-so-many. So I don't know what everyone is talking about.

Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas

#302

Post by Chris2048 »

adriand wrote: post #300
avip wrote: post #3

Yes. This is a case of hard data confirming what we already know. As in - few types of butterflies I used to like, and see yearly as a kid - are gone. I see them now once in 5 years, if lucky. I bring my kids to look because it's a first time for them. On the other hand, some types of beetles, ants, flies, mosquitoes, even wasps - are just new. They were not here 20-30 years ago. Now, what are the consequences of all…

I totally agree with the anecdotal perceptions around the decrease in insects since childhood. In my case, what I noticed recently was how few times my children have been stung by bees/wasps at their current ages, compared to how many times I was stung at those ages. My seven-year-old daughter has never been stung. My ten-year-old son claims he was stung once, but I'm not sure I believe him. By the time I was ten yea…

Did you spend more time outdoors, or in woodlands?

Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas

#303

Post by radiorental »

gibberfish wrote: post #255
radiorental wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let’s say you were interviewing a butterfly — or a Mayfly. A Mayfly lives for four or five days. Say that Mayfly was standing on the branch of a giant Sequoia tree in California, which lives for thousands of years. If you were to ask that Mayfly, “Do you perceive this branch that you are standing on as being alive?” The Mayfly would say, “Of course not. I’ve been here my entire life, four days, and the branch hasn’t…

Still doesn't mean this clump of rock has any kind of intentionality.

ohhh you, and your 'free will'

Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas

#304

Post by daemin »

phkahler wrote: post #16

Too bad it wasn't the mosquitoes. Now when people shoot down ideas to eradicate them because "what about the species that eat them" I can just point out this 75 percent reduction in other flying insects...

I seem to recall that there are no actual species found that eat purely mosquitoes.

Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas

#305

Post by usrusr »

lossolo wrote: post #121
colordrops wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm starting to think that as well. As a father it hits me much harder, and I think I'm at stage four of the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The human race may just not be special and will be erased, sooner rather than later.

Human race will survive. When extinction level event will be certain then 20-30 underground mini cities will be created and biggest minds will create solution for humans to survive there for 100+ years. Of course only privileged will be chosen to live there. 7 billions of people will die but human race will survive.

"We must not allow a mineshaft gap!" A more poetic cinematic exploration of that topic if Verdens Undergang, best watched accompanied by a good orchestra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_the_World_%281916_f...

Sorry, if humanity allows it to come as far as requiring mineshafting for pure self-inflicted ecological overexploitation, it does not deserve survival.

Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas

#306

Post by mschuster91 »

WillReplyfFood wrote: post #282
mschuster91 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Perhaps this is a sign that the freshwater in the ground is going away. Now look what Nestle/other food giants, but also slaughterhouses and animal farms, do: they use groundwater with private wells, and they extract more water than can be replenished... boom.

I wonder if sabotaging such private wells, by conrecte blocking parts of the aquifying layer would constitute as self-defense.

Most likely not, and you risk disruption of underground water flows by injecting huge amounts of concrete into the ground...

Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas

#307

Post by radiorental »

christophilus wrote: post #157
avip wrote: post #3

Yes. This is a case of hard data confirming what we already know. As in - few types of butterflies I used to like, and see yearly as a kid - are gone. I see them now once in 5 years, if lucky. I bring my kids to look because it's a first time for them. On the other hand, some types of beetles, ants, flies, mosquitoes, even wasps - are just new. They were not here 20-30 years ago. Now, what are the consequences of all…

This year, I left a portion of my lawn unmowed. I seeded it with a $10 bag of wildflower seeds. It's given me 4 months of beautiful flowers, loads of polinators, many butterflies, and it's given me less yard to mow. I now think that lawns of neatly trimmed grass are about as dumb as it gets.

Here's my kids doing their bit to protect the biomass in my back yard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukZA4Y7usQk

But in all seriousness, yes.. lawns are evil. Created in Victorian Britain to demonstrate wealth.. "look at me, I can afford to have un-productive land". I try to minimise them as much as possible on my 1.5 acre lot. Veggie gardens, mushroom logs, wetland and lots of dead wood as in the video

That all said, I keep a couple of hives, this might be the last year. For the last couple of year my otherwise very healthy hives have collapsed around this very time of year, I just noticed one wasn't doing well all of a sudden.

Roughly when everyone is putting stuff on their lawns for winter, especially the golf course a 1/4 mile away. I know correlation is not causation but it's an unusual time for hives to fail, they've been working all summer building up and it is this point that they are their strongest.

Frankly, my feeling has been for a while that we, as a species, are at the end of our golden age.

Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas

#308

Post by arethuza »

We move at the start of the year to a house in the country here in Scotland that is pretty much surrounded by farmland and I've been amazed at the amount of insect life in our garden - particularly the amount of bees and butterflies.

However, because the area round us is rather hilly it is all low intensity cattle and sheep rearing. It's probably at least 15 kms (mostly over sea) to the nearest arable farming - who are presumably the heaviest users of insecticides.

Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas

#309

Post by samastur »

arethuza wrote: post #308

We move at the start of the year to a house in the country here in Scotland that is pretty much surrounded by farmland and I've been amazed at the amount of insect life in our garden - particularly the amount of bees and butterflies. However, because the area round us is rather hilly it is all low intensity cattle and sheep rearing. It's probably at least 15 kms (mostly over sea) to the nearest arable farming - who a…

Sounds lovely, but what is the net connection like? (asking as someone who needs it for work)

Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas

#310

Post by viridian »

kpil wrote: post #256
irrlichthn wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK, I can do with my garden whatever I want to do, as long as a I don't turn it into forrest. But that's here in Austria. What you describe sounds terrible. Fines for not mowing? In which country do you live?

The land of the 'free' I believe they call themselves....

People are free to not move into a HoA area or gated community though. I'm looking to buy a house soon, and any HoA with any real authority causes me to reject the house based just on that. There's nothing wrong with the idea of "lets all agree to these rules that define a neighborhood we all would like to live in" in theory, but in practice the HoA contract is often a cudgel used to bludgeon people who aren't well liked into submission.
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