This Bugs Me, and it Should Bug You Too

[adrina]

source

A new scientific study has found "dramatic" and "alarming" declines in insect populations in areas in Germany, which researchers say could have far-reaching consequences for the world's crop production and natural ecosystems. The study, published on Wednesday in peer-reviewed journal PLOS One has found that, in German nature reserves, flying insect populations have declined by more than 75% over the duration of the 27-year study.

"The flying insect community as a whole... has been decimated over the last few decades," said the study, which was conducted by Researchers from Radboud University in the Netherlands and the Entomological Society Krefeld in Germany.

"Loss of insect diversity and abundance is expected to provoke cascading effects on food webs and to jeopardize ecosystem services." Co-author Caspar Hallman said he and his colleagues were "very, very surprised" by the results. "These are not agricultural areas, these are locations meant to preserve biodiversity, but still we see the insects slipping out of our hands," he told CNN.

This makes me think of the canary in the coalmine.

Bees, pollinators, flying insects... these are all vitally important to the food chain and the environment in general. We must change our behaviors. Or pay the price.

 

[Ubiquitious_too]

Better forward the study to Al Gore, pronto!!

 

[Adre]

Oh, we’ll pay the price. The climate change deniers and anti science crowd will make sure of that.

 

[BoyNextDoor]

As a species we have exceeded the carrying capacity of our environment. The biotic factors cannot replenish unaided and some abiotic factors are becoming toxic.

"Canary in a coalmine" is an apt metaphor.

 

[trysail]

Oh, we’ll pay the price. The climate change deniers and anti science crowd will make sure of that.

The Quality of Thinking About Climate and Economics at Pravda


Required reading for innumerates and other believers in unicorns, free lunches and perpetual motion.

​

 

[stickygirl]

We're pretty much fucked.
And the older generation will be long dead before the effects are felt: they're the fuckers that caused it and just pour scorn on the evidence because
they
don't
care

 

[about_average]

The Quality of Thinking About Climate and Economics at Pravda

Required reading for innumerates and other believers in unicorns, free lunches and perpetual motion.

Aaaand right on cue.

 

[about_average]

source



This makes me think of the canary in the coalmine.

Bees, pollinators, flying insects... these are all vitally important to the food chain and the environment in general. We must change our behaviors. Or pay the price.

This has been going on for some time, and the majority of people don't give a shit, after all, bees sting you.
They'll only start giving a shit when food becomes paste in a tube because real food costs a fortune.

 

[DMBFFF]

I heard the same report: not good.

It's been years since I've seen a leafcutter bee—though to be fair, I haven't been actively looking; and rarely do I see fireflies in summer. According to the National Geographic years ago, in Japan, they hire people to pollinate flowers.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ARS_Megachile_rotundata.jpg
This image is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from the Agricultural Research Service, the research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megachile_rotundata

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/ARS_Megachile_rotundata.jpg/330px-ARS_Megachile_rotundata.jpg




Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - Arthropoda
3:38
61,649 views
The image of the dancer is between human and mythical - borrowing from fluid contemporary movement to more graphic, insect-like choreography.

 

[trysail]

Sixty Scientists Demand Reconsideration of EPA's Endangerment Finding
by Francis Menton
The "Manhattan Contrarian"

...At this point, there is no statistically valid proof that past increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations have caused what have been officially reported as rising, or even record setting, global average surface temperatures (GAST) . . . Moreover, additional research findings demonstrate that adjustments by government agencies to the GAST record render that record totally inconsistent with published credible temperature data sets and useless for any policy purpose. . . .

...there is a substantial government-funded clique of lightweights and charlatans that spend their lives manipulating the world temperature records and putting out fake press releases...


http://manhattancontrarian.com/blog...-reconsideration-of-epas-endangerment-finding

​

​

 

[LIVINRFANTASIES]

Denny

We're pretty much fucked.
And the older generation will be long dead before the effects are felt: they're the fuckers that caused it and just pour scorn on the evidence because
they
don't
care

Right, blame us old farts............... Now git off my lawn, I just sprayed with DDT and painted the white picket fence with lead based paint.

 

[AngusBridie]

I feel significant damage is done already and agree with others that think that further generations will pay the price.
Maybe we should live like the Amish, they are healthier anyway... You can play pool by candlelight.

Edit: Not a practical answer living like the Amish but in a society such as theirs completely free of fossil fuels would do the environment alot of good.

 

[stickygirl]

Right, blame us old farts............... Now git off my lawn, I just sprayed with DDT and painted the white picket fence with lead based paint.

You're right "some of them are the fuckers who caused it"
All of your grandchildren will be affected by it

 

[trysail]

...and, by the way, where is that ivory-billed woodpecker whose existence was widely accepted and reported by the news media and wholly embraced by the ornithological establishment?


John Fitzpatrick, head of Cornell's Ornithology Lab, wanted so badly to believe in its existence, that even he got sucked in.


Well, guess what? We haven't heard a lot about ivory-billed woodpeckers recently from John Fitzpatrick.


Bunch of gullible fucks— you really might want to think about trying science and scientific method.


​

 

[Richard_P_Feynman]

source



This makes me think of the canary in the coalmine.

Bees, pollinators, flying insects... these are all vitally important to the food chain and the environment in general. We must change our behaviors. Or pay the price.

Yep, it bothers me greatly. Frankly, biodiversity and biomass are two of my hot button ethical worries.

 

[DrDelirium]

This has been going on for some time, and the majority of people don't give a shit, after all, bees sting you.
They'll only start giving a shit when food becomes paste in a tube because real food costs a fortune.

The thing is, this problem is being caused by the things that keep food from costing a fortune NOW. Pesticides. Monoculture. Factory farming. Habitat destruction. Everyone who eats benefits from the current practices, so blame-shifting is inappropriate.
To prevent this problem from getting worse, it's necessary to have concrete proposals to change practices, and to deal with their consequences. Without a complete change in our economic system, for instance, the elimination of pesticides and mass monoculture farming WILL make food prices rise dramatically. Some of this could be offset if we moved young urbanites and suburbanites back to the land and had them grow food the old-fashioned (say, fourteenth century) way, but as most of these people have never done a day's hard, physical labor in their lives and don't know anything about agriculture, their major contribution to reducing food scarcity would be by reducing aggregate demand.

 

[LIVINRFANTASIES]

You're right "some of them are the fuckers who caused it"
All of your grandchildren will be affected by it

We lived in the woods in Florida for 23 years. There are plenty of bugs and crawly things there yet to bug ya.
They should send Love Bugs and Fire Ants to Germany.

Back in the midwest, we have fireflies and all of the same insects we had before we moved. Even deer and racoons in the yard.

Some people never get out of town or out in their own back yards.

 

[about_average]

The thing is, this problem is being caused by the things that keep food from costing a fortune NOW. Pesticides. Monoculture. Factory farming. Habitat destruction. Everyone who eats benefits from the current practices, so blame-shifting is inappropriate.

Actually, when I have a choice, I pay a premium for food grown or raised in a sustainable manner. And what I grow myself I grow it that way.

 

[DrDelirium]

Actually, when I have a choice, I pay a premium for food grown or raised in a sustainable manner. And what I grow myself I grow it that way.

But the people who made your cheap computer or phone don't generally have that choice. And if you're one of the people with the resources to make that choice, cheap food keeps a lot of people from eating you.

 

[phrodeau]

Sixty Scientists Demand Reconsideration of EPA's Endangerment Finding
by Francis Menton
The "Manhattan Contrarian"

...At this point, there is no statistically valid proof that past increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations have caused what have been officially reported as rising, or even record setting, global average surface temperatures (GAST) . . . Moreover, additional research findings demonstrate that adjustments by government agencies to the GAST record render that record totally inconsistent with published credible temperature data sets and useless for any policy purpose. . . .

...there is a substantial government-funded clique of lightweights and charlatans that spend their lives manipulating the world temperature records and putting out fake press releases...


http://manhattancontrarian.com/blog...-reconsideration-of-epas-endangerment-finding

​

​

Which government is he talking about? There's lots of independent corroboration of the temperature record.

 

[DrDelirium]

Which government is he talking about? There's lots of independent corroboration of the temperature record.

He did say 'government funded.' Are there a lot of self-funded weather scientists? I mean, beyond having a rain gauge in the back yard. I happen to believe in anthropogenic global warming, but believing in 'independent science' is like believing in unicorns.

 

[DMBFFF]

DrDelirium,

I'm not sure we have to go back to the 14th century—not totally at least.

If not another rare earth was mined, nor person worked in hi-tech who didn't get at least, say, $5/hr, or $20/hr in any OCED member state, we could still probably maintain much of our standard of living.

Live more "conservatively" if one will.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyface_Farm
seems to be doing okay



"give me spots on my apples, but don't forget about the birds, and don't forget about the bees."

BB Gabor - Big Yellow Taxi
(my favourite version of Joni Mitchell's song)
5:40
3,384 views

 

[Ubiquitious_too]

all those wacky independent scientists who live on Government Grants have to issue crap like that so they can get another grant from the taxpaying public.

 

[Que]

source



This makes me think of the canary in the coalmine.

Bees, pollinators, flying insects... these are all vitally important to the food chain and the environment in general. We must change our behaviors. Or pay the price.

The bee thing was kind of a puzzle but as I understand it they have figured it out.

I don't remember exactly how it worked but it was very counterintuitive it was lack of pesticides that was causing the problem.

There were these mites that would infest beehives which were easily controlled by modern beekeepers but so many people were trying to help with the problem and keeping bees pesticide-free that they were actually acting as vectors for these mites.

I might have the details off a little bit but that's the general gist of it.

Nobody likes insects, but I agree that it is a problem. I can't imagine that it's not due to our use of pesticides.

Having said that I recently inadvertently drowned a scorpion in my place. I'm going to go full-on chemical warfare.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/07/23/call-off-the-bee-pocalypse-u-s-honeybee-colonies-hit-a-20-year-high/?utm_term=.68270393944a

it's loading too slow for me to read it but I think this might be the article or there's another one in Bloomberg that is similar

 

[DrDelirium]

DrDelirium,

I'm not sure we have to go back to the 14th century—not totally at least.

If not another rare earth was mined, nor person worked in hi-tech who didn't get at least, say, $5/hr, or $20/hr in any OCED member state, we could still probably maintain much of our standard of living.

Live more "conservatively" if one will.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyface_Farm
seems to be doing okay



"give me spots on my apples, but don't forget about the birds, and don't forget about the bees."

BB Gabor - Big Yellow Taxi
(my favourite version of Joni Mitchell's song)
5:40
3,384 views

I don't believe we need to go back to the 14th century either. Note that I said, 'without a complete change in our economic system,' prices would rise from changes in the agricultural system. Putting urbanites to work with 14th century technology is an entirely separate idea, although it would entail a change in the economic system because they would have to be forced to participate in some fashion and the idea of a free market in labor would go right down the tubes.
What I do believe is that the kind of capitalism we practice is not compatible with long term planning, and actively interferes with solutions to long term problems.