Science/Environment Insects in decline-Dire consequences for nature.

[Socrates2]

Very disturbed to read about this today.https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ng-insect-numbers-threaten-collapse-of-nature

 

[CheapCharlie]

 

[Malifice]

Leftist propaganda. Fake news. Global warming is a myth perpetrated by the Jewish controlled Hollywood and MSM trying to take over the world via the UN. And if it isn't a myth, it's a deliberate ploy by 'international banking cabals' (using Chem trails). In any event, increased global temperatures will actually be beneficial to us.

Just getting those insane arguments out of the way early.

 

[M Malice]

 

[Craven Morehead]

I wouldn't mind a reduction in the number of little black bastard bush flies out here.
But yes, this is a serious issue, especially with regards to pollination of food crops.
Plenty of cases of late where farmers have had to import bees to pollinate crops like Canola.
And yes, the farmers were to blame, kinda, for using broad-based insecticides.
However, companies like Monsanto and Bayer were notorious for promoting the 'safety' of their products.

 

[FireKrakouer]

Trying to get through a Guardian article is like trying to tolerate Helen Lovejoy shrieking in your ear at top volume... I guess doomsday religions have always existed in some form.

A more level-headed analysis:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/...line-scientists-are-trying-to-understand-why/

 

[its free real estate]

Definitely notice fewer bugs on the windscreen than when I was a kid, which was a regular problem for my parents every summer

Remember around Christmas nearby gum trees would be teeming with Christmas beetles. Grasshoppers were a regular feature too.

Something is up. I’m sure there are plenty of insect decline denialists about. Come here and debate me, dickheads.

 

[Socrates2]

Trying to get through a Guardian article is like trying to tolerate Helen Lovejoy shrieking in your ear at top volume... I guess doomsday religions have always existed in some form.

A more level-headed analysis:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/...line-scientists-are-trying-to-understand-why/

That article is 3 months old, the guardian article contains new research and there's plenty of others reporting onnit in the last few days.

 

[Benny78]

Too bad for them and pet rabbits re mixomatosis. Our Cos lettuce and those peoples livelihoods are far more important than anything living. Go America!

If we allowed people to vaccinate their pet rabbits against it, these rabbits could make wild rabbits immune. This has never happened in various countries where the vaccine is legal and the disease has been sprayed for like 50 years. But in Australia it's better to be cautious and kill everything

 

[EasternTiger]

Dragonflies are arseholes. I'll be glad to see the back of them.

 

[Craven Morehead]

Too bad for them and pet rabbits re mixomatosis. Our Cos lettuce and those peoples livelihoods are far more important than anything living. Go America!

If we allowed people to vaccinate their pet rabbits against it, these rabbits could make wild rabbits immune. This has never happened in various countries where the vaccine is legal and the disease has been sprayed for like 50 years. But in Australia it's better to be cautious and kill everything

LOL.

 

[Balls In]

Very disturbed to read about this today.https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ng-insect-numbers-threaten-collapse-of-nature

Great thread. If pesticides are so prevalent that they are causing insect population collapse, we have a huge problem.

 

[Snake_Baker]

Trying to get through a Guardian article is like trying to tolerate Helen Lovejoy shrieking in your ear at top volume... I guess doomsday religions have always existed in some form.

A more level-headed analysis:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/...line-scientists-are-trying-to-understand-why/

Just had a flick through the actual paper the article is based on, and I agree, this isn't the end of the world as we know it.

 

[Present Not Past]

Destruction of the environment is to blame here, particularly the replacement of natural vegetation and environs with introduced weeds.

 

[Snake_Baker]

Destruction of the environment is to blame here, particularly the replacement of natural vegetation and environs with introduced weeds.

The environment has constantly undergone "destruction" depending upon your point of view.

 

[Present Not Past]

The environment has constantly undergone "destruction" depending upon your point of view.

I would disagree with your "constantly".

 

[Snake_Baker]

I would disagree with your "constantly".

 

[FireKrakouer]

Just had a flick through the actual paper the article is based on, and I agree, this isn't the end of the world as we know it.

Fear sells. This goes for both the media, and for researchers seeking grants. And both sides of politics are avid consumers.

Not to suggest that there isn't a valid problem here. But "catastrophic collapse of nature" is just clickbait.

 

[its free real estate]

The environment has constantly undergone "destruction" depending upon your point of view.

There are long periods of relative tranquility in the environment. Not a single catastrophic event has happened in the history of hominids. The closest we have got was probably the Mt Toba eruption.

 

[Socrates2]

Fear sells. This goes for both the media, and for researchers seeking grants. And both sides of politics are avid consumers.

Not to suggest that there isn't a valid problem here. But "catastrophic collapse of nature" is just clickbait.

The article says " The world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, according to the first global scientific review."
It's a direct quote from the scientific review and they are referring to 100 years time. Firekraker first you said that it was eggaggerated,then you referred to a 'better' article that was 3 months old. Resesrchers and scientists don't make things up or eggagerate, so I'm not sure why you say that.Why ymwould pertain to know more than a global scientific review?

 

[its free real estate]

Humans will go extinct before insects will.

 

[FireKrakouer]

The article says " The world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, according to the first global scientific review."
It's a direct quote from the scientific review and they are referring to 100 years time. Firekraker first you said that it was eggaggerated,then you referred to a 'better' article that was 3 months old. Resesrchers and scientists don't make things up or eggagerate, so I'm not sure why you say that.Why ymwould pertain to know more than a global scientific review?

M8, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence of researchers exaggerating things. If they scare people enough, they can secure 10 years of funding in a cushy job that they enjoy. If they fail to find anything, the money dries up.

That's not to say that there is not a genuine problem, it's just that the emotional and sensationalist language used is unnecessary. The Guardian discussing climate science are about as objective as Eddie McGuire commentating a Collingwood game. It's their religion m8. As an intellectual, I am insulted!

 

[Socrates2]

M8, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence of researchers exaggerating things. If they scare people enough, they can secure 10 years of funding in a cushy job that they enjoy. If they fail to find anything, the money dries up.

That's not to say that there is not a genuine problem, it's just that the emotional and sensationalist language used is unnecessary. The Guardian discussing climate science are about as objective as Eddie McGuire commentating a Collingwood game. It's their religion m8. As an intellectual, I am insulted!

Rubbish mate,the same article is in every proper newspaper,you can't exaggerate scientific data,it's black and white.They measure something and write down the results.You're confusing scientists with politicians.

 

[Snake_Baker]

Rubbish mate,the same article is in every proper newspaper,you can't exaggerate scientific data,it's black and white.They measure something and write down the results.You're confusing scientists with politicians.

Where is the baseline data relating to insect populations that correlates extinction episodes in relation to human interference?

Species become extinct all the time whether we're here or not. Read up some some basic biology.

 

[Socrates2]

Where is the baseline data relating to insect populations that correlates extinction episodes in relation to human interference?

Species become extinct all the time whether we're here or not. Read up some some basic biology.

It's all there, I don't see why you would know more than people that have dedicated their life to studying these things?Most people would say I think we have a problem here rather than attacking the overwhelming evidence. Just because you do not like the news doesn't mean it's not true.