ATS SURVEY / Global Warming & Climate Change / Do We need to Protect Insect Populations?

Much about the MSM is never the facts nor truth so lets do a simple ATS survey.

SURVEY QUESTION:

[1] Based on where you live have you noticed a decline or increase in the insect population over the last several years.

That's it. I have noticed an increase such that for the 1st time in my life I hired Mosquito Joe's of South Carolina to spray my yard as this year we had 1000's of "midges". We also have alot of frogs and toads and 1000's of honey bees. I am just curious as to what others are seeing. I get the pesticide stuff but I really wonder of the insects are at risk.

Midges

I could have posted a thread about the farmers protesting today in Berlin, Germany. Here's the link.

The government's policy package includes plans to limit the use of fertiliser to tackle nitrate pollution in groundwater, and phase out the controversial weedkiller glyphosate by 2023 to protect insect populations.

Tractors Shut Down Berlin

Here's a nice video also:

Thousands of tractors plow through Berlin

Yes, we do need to protect the insects, they are a necessary part of ecology. Most of the chemicals sprayed in the fields do not have to be sprayed, they spray just to guarantee that their harvest is good. These chemicals are not just bad for insects, they effect the birds and other animals including humans. The biggest problem I tend to believed is bad is the preharvest spraying of grains with glyphosate, and it is fed to livestock at even higher ppm residue than humans are getting. It effects collagen in us and we can also absorb it from the collagen in meats. It is everywhere. Glyphosate is a mitocide even though it is not classified as one. It effects the microbial balance in all animals that consume tainted food including humans. So that is why so many people are taking probiotics these days. That is just the tip of the iceberg, too much pesiticide is used by many big farming corporations too to protect their profits.

a reply to: Waterglass

I have not noticed a decline in insect population.

On a side note I’m always confused by this idea humans have that now that we’re here and were paying attention, that everything has to stay the same. Change has been a powerful constant for all of earths history, most of the species to ever exist have gone extinct and the climate has changed many times. So why is it that we think our presence means nothing is supposed to change anymore?

a reply to: Waterglass

Bees are definitely at risk, and it's not due to global warming. It's due to 'glyophosphates' (the word they use to shield and disquise the real culprit ROUNDUP and MONSANTO now BAYER corporation)! (edited based on another poster...researching) And yes, we have noticed a marked decline in bees over the past few years.

As for other insects, it's cyclical some years they come in greater numbers than others. This year we had nearly zero mosquitoes, but up in town just 20 miles away the mosquitoes were worse than they've ever been. Just depends on the year.

To your general question in the title... "Do we need to protect the insect populations?"

Answer: Yes, we absolutely do! Insects are vital to human life on Earth.

Now, for the subject of "Climate Change / Global Warming" - This is the greatest single HOAX ever perpetuated on the human race in the history of mankind!!!!!

Did I cover all the bases?

a reply to: Quantumgamer1776
I fully agree.
It's not like we'll be here forever.
The planet will be happily orbiting the Sun for a very long time after all signs of us ever being here are long gone.

I agree that we *have* to protect the insects.

I disagree that the biggest problem is glyphosate. In my opinion it is the neo-nicotinoids.

Explanation: glyphosate does reduce the diversity of green plants in agriculture to leave only the wanted cultures. This is indeed not a positive treatmentin regards to insects per se, but the effects are not as global to all of insectoid live like with the neo-nicotinoids.

The neo-nicotinoids are not only massively affecting the bees, but most every insect living in or on a treated plant, regardless of subspecies.

Glyphosate could be substituted by different other "weedkillers", although with similar or worse effects, as the needed amounts of active components would usually be much more. This does not help.

Neo-nicotinoids are not really necessary for successful farming. They could and should be omitted.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
..

Now, for the subject of "Climate Change / Global Warming" - This is the greatest single HOAX ever perpetuated on the human race in the history of mankind!!!!!

Did I cover all the bases?

No, and you are wrong on this one point.

a reply to: ManFromEurope

Interesting. Hmmmmm...I may have to stand corrected.

a reply to: ManFromEurope

Well, ordinarily I would say "prove it", but I think we've all seen how this age-old discussion goes.

That, and there's just not enough internet or server bandwidth to hash this argument out again.

My statement stands, and we'll just have to agree to disagree on this topic.

originally posted by: ManFromEurope

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
..

Now, for the subject of "Climate Change / Global Warming" - This is the greatest single HOAX ever perpetuated on the human race in the history of mankind!!!!!

Did I cover all the bases?

No, and you are wrong on this one point.

Okay, I'll bite.
What one point are you referring to?
I'd really like to hear what greater hoax has been perpetuated on mankind, besides maybe the divine right of kings and manifest destiny?

ganjoa

a reply to: Waterglass

I'm glad you went with such a wonderful company to make your outside enjoyable again. Mosquito Joe is amazing. A guaranteed mosquito, flea and tick free yard. I never knew that was an option. Sitting out enjoying the stars on a summer night, and NOT being eaten alive is amazing.

As to your question, last year, I saw an increase in praying Mantis and my area did have our 17 year locust. We had some noticeable honey bee activity, which was nice to see, and a large increase in carpenter bees. (Big bumble bees that bore into your old wood)

a reply to: Waterglass

So because there is more biomass and insect life because of Global Warming which brought more creatures to your neck of the woods, your first instinct is to pesticide them all to death??

Most cities are Barren of such life, mainly because of our use of pesticides and choices of habitats we make. Just because it's warmer isn't a reason to try to kill all that food cycle.

I've worked hard at making our backyard an oasis and each year we see new species coming back.

Global Warming should make for more plant life and then more insect life, which is like plankton for land animals. It forms the base of the food chain.

Leave it to mankind to mess that up even.........

I think insects will be able to adapt to climate change a lot easier than we will. They have us beat in that category in every way. We should be more concerned about humans than bugs.

Why Aren't We Eating More Insects?

a reply to: Waterglass

Insects are an important link in the food chain for many species so yes we need to protect insects from loss of habitat and insecticides , we need to stop raping the land and show we are suitable custodians of this planet otherwise this planet will stop supporting us.

If they die out we die out ... simple.

Do We need to Protect Insect Populations?

Most certainly the pollinators. Without them a lot of plants won't have a chance to reproduce, but the use of insecticides and many other pollutants has decimated a lot of them. I have also perceived a reduction in spiders here in the UK. I've seen a few, but none in my apartment. Usually, around autumn, I tend to help a few of the buggers out of the window, but haven't seen any this year.

Very few flies, also, which might account for the lack of house spiders? Problem is, we have been polluting our environments for many decades, so we have not done ourselves any favours. It isn't just the insects, it's all forms of life, forest fires and Bush fires have been particularly devastating this year. Watching Koala Bears trying to pick their way through a bush fire with their fur burning is not a pleasant sight at all. Many Australians have been trying to save the little beggars, but they are dying of their burns. Quite heart-rendering, it must be the same where any forest fire occurs, the wildlife take the brunt.

If you mean stop spraying poison everywhere then I am all for it because it gets in our food supply as well. If you mean pay more taxes then no.

Where I live in the NE I have seen an increase. For the first time in many years I saw a couple of Monarch butterflies this past summer.

For about 15 yrs I never saw butterflies anymore, now I am hopeful they are coming back.

I have seen a lot more grasshoppers (yuck).

Plenty of bees in my flower garden too.

eta: plenty of japanese beetles and earwigs too, which were a big problem for my flowers and I am very hesitant to use pesticides. I used diatamaceous earth which helped a little.

There has definitely been a noticeable decrease in bees around here. Same for butterflies. I remember when I first moved here years ago, there were butterflies everywhere. Monarchs were common as they migrated. I haven't seen a single monarch butterfly in years.

There do seem to be quite a few species of very large moths around though. I've never seen them before this year.

I WISH there was a decrease in mosquitos in our area. This summer they were bad. Big, nasty with painful bites. Fruit flies are a nightmare right now. Here it is winter, subzero temps, and the damn fruit flies are bad all over town.

originally posted by: toolgal462
Where I live in the NE I have seen an increase. For the first time in many years I saw a couple of Monarch butterflies this past summer.

Insects a-plenty in Southern California, with a lot of it having to do with the amount of rainfall/standing water that we had in the Spring. Insect populations fluctuate all the time according to the weather.

So here we are once again doing what humans do, which is running off half-cocked and trying to control complex things we don't fully understand and seeing what happens. Primarily, we need to relax, get better measurements and see what, if anything, should be done with minimal impact to address the problem -- if there actually is one and it's not just nature being nature.

And anybody who thinks we have a clear enough understanding of the climate and how it works and how we can manipulate it to change it a few degrees for our benefit is woefully mistaken.

a reply to: Waterglass

It doesn't take much to create an imbalance in nature and sometimes it happens without you even realizing what you have done.

A couple of years ago I helped out a friend by babysitting her granddaughter for two weeks during the day. The child loved the walk to the pond and feeding the fish, so we did that everyday for two weeks. One day I walked down to the pond and it had turned "black"! I didn't know what had happened right away, then I realized they were tadpoles completely covering the pond.

The fish in my pond had stopped eating the tadpoles because they preferred the fish food. I stopped feeding them, and after a while the pond was back to normal, but I also soon had what looked like an apocalyptic invasion of frogs. I rarely feed the fish in my pond after that, lesson learned.

My brother has bee hives and he was doing just fine, until he harvested bees from a wild nest from his friend's house. He doesn't know what happened, but after setting up the new hive with the new bees, he lost half his hives, and our neighbor about a mile away lost all of his. They don't know if it was something to do with the new bees brought on premises or something else. The new bees seem to be doing find.

My brother, neighbors, and myself, none of us use any unnatural products. No fertilizers or pesticides. So even a slight change in the natural process of things can have deleterious affects.

I think man does have an affect on his surroundings and environment. I think the planet adapts to our presence. I don't think we can accidentally cause total destruction of the planet. I think we can accidentally wipe out ourselves, and if we do, I think the planet will adapt just fine to the lost of our presence.