Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study
nationalgeographic.com
Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study
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Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study
#2If 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.
Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study
#3If 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..
Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study
#4I have always been surprised that anyone is surprised that an insecticide is responsible for the widespread deaths of insects.
I assume there is some reason (not immediately obvious to an outsider like me) why it should be surprising, but all these stories feel like “REVEALED: wet pavements caused by spraying WATER on them!”
Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study
#5Its 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?
Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study
#6If 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.
Land can be surprisingly cheap depending on where you look. Ag land in Ireland, at least, can be a couple grand an acre if you buy in bulk (and it's not good grazing land, but this can be great for reforesting).
Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study
#7If 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.
In Canada it's $1k/acre and sometimes even lower. But for your plan to have maximum effect you'd have to do some research what land would be best suited because of biodiversity and climate.
Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study
#8I have always been surprised that anyone is surprised that an insecticide is responsible for the widespread deaths of insects. I assume there is some reason (not immediately obvious to an outsider like me) why it should be surprising, but all these stories feel like “REVEALED: wet pavements caused by spraying WATER on them!”
Well, I would have assumed that the usage of insecticides decreased in the last decades. At least I never had the impression that it increased massively.
Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study
#9If 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.
If you end up doing that (and are in the United States), I would encourage you to look into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).
"The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a land conservation program administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). In exchange for a yearly rental payment, farmers enrolled in the program agree to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and plant species that will improve environmental health and quality. Contracts for land enrolled in CRP are 10-15 years in length. The long-term goal of the program is to re-establish valuable land cover to help improve water quality, prevent soil erosion, and reduce loss of wildlife habitat." [0]
[0] https://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/conservation-...
Re: Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides: study
#10I have always been surprised that anyone is surprised that an insecticide is responsible for the widespread deaths of insects. I assume there is some reason (not immediately obvious to an outsider like me) why it should be surprising, but all these stories feel like “REVEALED: wet pavements caused by spraying WATER on them!”
Climate change has recently been blamed for the insect decline, as it tends to get all the environmental news these days.