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The biggest issue is that the insects are dying because of pesticides and fertilizers. And it's getting worse: “The main cause of the decline is agricultural i

The biggest issue is that the insects are dying because of pesticides and fertilizers. And it's getting worse: “The main cause of the decline is agricultural intensification,” Sánchez-Bayo said. “That means the elimination of all trees and shrubs that normally surround the fields, so there are plain, bare fields that are treated with synthetic fertilisers and pesticides.” He said the demise of insects appears to have started at the dawn of the 20th century, accelerated during the 1950s and 1960s and reached “alarming proportions” over the last two decades. The 2.5% rate of annual loss over the last 25-30 years is “shocking”, Sánchez-Bayo told the Guardian: “It is very rapid. In 10 years you will have a quarter less, in 50 years only half left and in 100 years you will have none.” Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/plummeting-insect-numbers-threaten-collapse-of-nature https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/plummeti... So...either we stop using intensive agg practices and our global food production goes down and we starve, or we kill all the bugs and the food web collapses. I'm predicting between this, plastic, massive garbage problems and climate change we're most likely going to have mass migration, war, disease and famine outbreaks in the next twenty years. Like a billion+ dead outbreaks. As far as I can see the entire industrial revolution has been a giant externality on nature. It saddens me that me and everyone around me will have to live through this.

SrslyJosh 8y ago
> So...either we stop using intensive agg practices and our global food production goes down and we starve, or we kill all the bugs and the food web collapses. I don't think those are the only two options. There are better farming practices (read up on no-till, see here for example: https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2017/11/30/saving-money-time-and-soil-economics-no-till-farming https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2017/11/30/saving-money-time...) that require much lower inputs (fertilizer, pesticides, water) than conventional farming techniques. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-till_farming#Profit,_economics,_yield https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-till_farming#Profit,_econom...) also notes that because the soil retains water better and is more fertile in general, a farmer may have the option to plant a new crop immediately after a harvest instead of leaving a field fallow. There are many other benefits (read the Wikipedia article!) that could make a huge impact in both wildlife conservation and fighting global warming, were we to convert wholesale to no-till (or similarly restorative techniques). The problem, of course, is that we have massive political dysfunction which leads to policy paralysis. How do you fight global warming when what is currently the most powerful political party in the world (it hurts me to type that ) refuses to acknowledge that anything needs to (or can) be done about it?
- pmoriarty 8y ago
  "How do you fight global warming when what is currently the most powerful political party in the world (it hurts me to type that ) refuses to acknowledge that anything needs to (or can) be done about it?" By becoming more politically active. If more people would organize, these clowns could be voted out of office.
  - vixen99 8y ago
    Given that the US now produces less emissions than in 2007, it would be more productive to aim your campaign at China producing twice as much. Inevitably, standard of living is linked to energy consumption and Chinese per capita emissions are one third as much as in the US, so their emissions are bound in increase if their general prosperity is headed upwards, which it is. Renewables aren't going to provide a magic solution. We know that now.
FranzFerdiNaN 8y ago
The easiest option is to stop eating meat. If we do that, the amount of land needed to produce enough food to feed the world would drastically go down. This would mean less intensive farming methods can be used, less pesticides, more land can be left untouched for a few years to recover. But of course we rather kill all bugs and starve ourselves than do this. Because not eating it is a part of left wing communist conspiracies to turn everyone into soy boys. Or that is what conservatives will immediately start screaming.
- Chris_Chambers 8y ago
  Liberals don’t have a monopoly on caring about things like one’s health and about the world. Just because conservatives don’t speak up at your favorite radical leftist-run vegan restaurant doesn’t mean they aren’t ordering takeout there every week. Organic vegan yoga chicks wouldn’t touch liberals with a ten foot pole. The only “mmm, bacon” people I ever see are the overweight liberals on reddit who think the immediate gratification of a good taste in their mouth is the important thing in the world. And the critique of soy consumption is a completely separate issue from veganism. It’s trivial to go vegan and get your protein from sources other than soy.
uxcolumbo 8y ago
What are your personal plans to avoid this? Move out of the city?

SrslyJosh 8y ago

> So...either we stop using intensive agg practices and our global food production goes down and we starve, or we kill all the bugs and the food web collapses. I don't think those are the only two options. There are better farming practices (read up on no-till, see here for example: https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2017/11/30/saving-money-time-and-soil-economics-no-till-farming https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2017/11/30/saving-money-time...) that require much lower inputs (fertilizer, pesticides, water) than conventional farming techniques. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-till_farming#Profit,_economics,_yield https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-till_farming#Profit,_econom...) also notes that because the soil retains water better and is more fertile in general, a farmer may have the option to plant a new crop immediately after a harvest instead of leaving a field fallow. There are many other benefits (read the Wikipedia article!) that could make a huge impact in both wildlife conservation and fighting global warming, were we to convert wholesale to no-till (or similarly restorative techniques). The problem, of course, is that we have massive political dysfunction which leads to policy paralysis. How do you fight global warming when what is currently the most powerful political party in the world (it hurts me to type that ) refuses to acknowledge that anything needs to (or can) be done about it?

pmoriarty 8y ago
"How do you fight global warming when what is currently the most powerful political party in the world (it hurts me to type that ) refuses to acknowledge that anything needs to (or can) be done about it?" By becoming more politically active. If more people would organize, these clowns could be voted out of office.
- vixen99 8y ago
  Given that the US now produces less emissions than in 2007, it would be more productive to aim your campaign at China producing twice as much. Inevitably, standard of living is linked to energy consumption and Chinese per capita emissions are one third as much as in the US, so their emissions are bound in increase if their general prosperity is headed upwards, which it is. Renewables aren't going to provide a magic solution. We know that now.

FranzFerdiNaN 8y ago

The easiest option is to stop eating meat. If we do that, the amount of land needed to produce enough food to feed the world would drastically go down. This would mean less intensive farming methods can be used, less pesticides, more land can be left untouched for a few years to recover. But of course we rather kill all bugs and starve ourselves than do this. Because not eating it is a part of left wing communist conspiracies to turn everyone into soy boys. Or that is what conservatives will immediately start screaming.

Chris_Chambers 8y ago
Liberals don’t have a monopoly on caring about things like one’s health and about the world. Just because conservatives don’t speak up at your favorite radical leftist-run vegan restaurant doesn’t mean they aren’t ordering takeout there every week. Organic vegan yoga chicks wouldn’t touch liberals with a ten foot pole. The only “mmm, bacon” people I ever see are the overweight liberals on reddit who think the immediate gratification of a good taste in their mouth is the important thing in the world. And the critique of soy consumption is a completely separate issue from veganism. It’s trivial to go vegan and get your protein from sources other than soy.

uxcolumbo 8y ago

What are your personal plans to avoid this? Move out of the city?