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Gotta love the way that good environmental news is greeted with caution and skepticism, while bad news is greeted with immediate acceptance and acclamation. Th

Gotta love the way that good environmental news is greeted with caution and skepticism, while bad news is greeted with immediate acceptance and acclamation. This is good news! Let's hear it for the bugs! woohoo!

adventured 6y ago
It entirely obliterates the insect collapse myth in the US. It's not skepticism and caution it's being met with, it's in denial mourning and willful head-in-the-sand'ing at the destruction of a critical piece of propaganda. Accordingly the remarkable, honest, rational, brave and scientifically sound study must be attacked and stopped no matter the cost.
- ncmncm 6y ago
  One study does not obliterate anything, even if the methods were not questionable. Look at the bumper of any long-haul truck and tell me insect populations are not down vs 40 years ago, and I will laugh in your face.
  - marcus_holmes 6y ago
    As others have said, that's got a lot more to do with improvements in truck design than changes in insect population.
    - ncmncm 6y ago
      Look at the bumper of an actual truck and repeat that. I will laugh in your face again.
      - marcus_holmes 6y ago
        https://www.jstor.org/stable/44718756?seq=1 https://www.jstor.org/stable/44718756?seq=1 First paragraph "...during the late 1970's and early 1980's considerable effort was expended in the improvement of truck aerodynamics..." And stop laughing in my face. Or at least put a mask on first.
veddox 6y ago
The majority of data we've gathered so far (though mostly in Europe) points in another direction. Therefore this study is unexpected and we're trying to figure out what's going on - is America doing so much better than Europe seems to be, or is the data in this study too patchy? Actually, even before this study, there's been a lot of discussion among ecologists about just how serious the insect decline actually is. My impression of the recent literature is that while there's definitely a worrisomely strong decline (certainly in Europe), talk of an "apocalypse" is rather overdone. But of course, the wider media usually only pick up on the dramatic results and leave out a lot of nuance.
- marcus_holmes 6y ago
  Yeah, the media reporting is always sensationalised. But they need the clicks, so it's kinda understandable. Annoying, but understandable. I'm more fascinated by the set of people who refuse to accept that there can be any good environmental news. There was a story a while back about the fact that there are more trees in the world now that in the 70's, and that got greeted with the same skepticism and argument. I guess some people have a worldview that's locked into environmental catastrophe and are unwilling to accept any evidence that contradicts that.

adventured 6y ago

It entirely obliterates the insect collapse myth in the US. It's not skepticism and caution it's being met with, it's in denial mourning and willful head-in-the-sand'ing at the destruction of a critical piece of propaganda. Accordingly the remarkable, honest, rational, brave and scientifically sound study must be attacked and stopped no matter the cost.

ncmncm 6y ago
One study does not obliterate anything, even if the methods were not questionable. Look at the bumper of any long-haul truck and tell me insect populations are not down vs 40 years ago, and I will laugh in your face.
- marcus_holmes 6y ago
  As others have said, that's got a lot more to do with improvements in truck design than changes in insect population.
  - ncmncm 6y ago
    Look at the bumper of an actual truck and repeat that. I will laugh in your face again.
    - marcus_holmes 6y ago
      https://www.jstor.org/stable/44718756?seq=1 https://www.jstor.org/stable/44718756?seq=1 First paragraph "...during the late 1970's and early 1980's considerable effort was expended in the improvement of truck aerodynamics..." And stop laughing in my face. Or at least put a mask on first.

veddox 6y ago

The majority of data we've gathered so far (though mostly in Europe) points in another direction. Therefore this study is unexpected and we're trying to figure out what's going on - is America doing so much better than Europe seems to be, or is the data in this study too patchy? Actually, even before this study, there's been a lot of discussion among ecologists about just how serious the insect decline actually is. My impression of the recent literature is that while there's definitely a worrisomely strong decline (certainly in Europe), talk of an "apocalypse" is rather overdone. But of course, the wider media usually only pick up on the dramatic results and leave out a lot of nuance.

marcus_holmes 6y ago
Yeah, the media reporting is always sensationalised. But they need the clicks, so it's kinda understandable. Annoying, but understandable. I'm more fascinated by the set of people who refuse to accept that there can be any good environmental news. There was a story a while back about the fact that there are more trees in the world now that in the 70's, and that got greeted with the same skepticism and argument. I guess some people have a worldview that's locked into environmental catastrophe and are unwilling to accept any evidence that contradicts that.