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40% of insect species are declining and 1/3 are endangered. In terms of biomass, we're losing 2.5% of all insects every year at the current rate. Insects are

40% of insect species are declining and 1/3 are endangered. In terms of biomass, we're losing 2.5% of all insects every year at the current rate. Insects are essential contributors to the biosphere, both as pollinators and as food sources. If that's not a "threat to all life on earth," I don't know what is. And that's just what I could find with 5 seconds of googling. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/plummeting-insect-numbers-threaten-collapse-of-nature https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/plummeti...

ClumsyPilot 4y ago
The point the OP is making is that wiping out all life on earth is an impossible and silly benchmark. No-one sane thinks 'oh, but we don't have to do anything about climate change because some worms will survive around the thermal vents on the ocean floor' To 'wipe out' life on earth, you have to crash the moon into it or do something similarly ridiculous - remember that a giant asteroid wasn't enough. Wiping out all human life is possible, but again I don't think that anyone is comforted by the idea that 0.1% of the population might survive in an arctic cave. Where we seem to fail is in communicating to folks that don't want to spend money to fix the problem today how their life will become miserable tomorrow.
- actually_a_dog 4y ago
  If we lost all the insects in a ~100 year period, the result would be close enough to losing "all life on earth" for anyone who doesn't have a microscope (or, more likely, a telescope). This is not an exaggeration in any sense of the word.
  - ClumsyPilot 4y ago
    You are not wrong, but isn't the insect-apocalypse distrinct from climate change? Insects aren't dying from CO2 emissions, different policies are needed to address them.
    - actually_a_dog 4y ago
      It’s a combination of climate change and loss of habitat from expanding agriculture. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/insects-are-dying-off-because-of-climate-change-and-farming/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/insects-are-dying...
  - goatlover 4y ago
    We won't lose all insects. They didn't all die off when a massive rock took out the non-avian dinosaurs 65 million years ago, and that was far more catastrophic (worse than any human nuclear winter scenario).
    - astrange 4y ago
      Might’ve taken a while to grow back though. The loss of insects isn’t caused by climate change, it’s too much pesticide use and people trying to have lawns instead of native plants.

ClumsyPilot 4y ago

The point the OP is making is that wiping out all life on earth is an impossible and silly benchmark. No-one sane thinks 'oh, but we don't have to do anything about climate change because some worms will survive around the thermal vents on the ocean floor' To 'wipe out' life on earth, you have to crash the moon into it or do something similarly ridiculous - remember that a giant asteroid wasn't enough. Wiping out all human life is possible, but again I don't think that anyone is comforted by the idea that 0.1% of the population might survive in an arctic cave. Where we seem to fail is in communicating to folks that don't want to spend money to fix the problem today how their life will become miserable tomorrow.

actually_a_dog 4y ago
If we lost all the insects in a ~100 year period, the result would be close enough to losing "all life on earth" for anyone who doesn't have a microscope (or, more likely, a telescope). This is not an exaggeration in any sense of the word.
- ClumsyPilot 4y ago
  You are not wrong, but isn't the insect-apocalypse distrinct from climate change? Insects aren't dying from CO2 emissions, different policies are needed to address them.
  - actually_a_dog 4y ago
    It’s a combination of climate change and loss of habitat from expanding agriculture. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/insects-are-dying-off-because-of-climate-change-and-farming/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/insects-are-dying...
- goatlover 4y ago
  We won't lose all insects. They didn't all die off when a massive rock took out the non-avian dinosaurs 65 million years ago, and that was far more catastrophic (worse than any human nuclear winter scenario).
  - astrange 4y ago
    Might’ve taken a while to grow back though. The loss of insects isn’t caused by climate change, it’s too much pesticide use and people trying to have lawns instead of native plants.