Insect Apocalypse poses threat to ALL life on Earth

a reply to: CrazeeWorld777

Since the beginning of life on Earth 99.9 percent of the species that have been on this Earth has gone extinct. Very much like climate change There is nothing we can do to stop it. Mother nature kills everything at one point or another we might be able to slow it down a little but death too all is inevitable. So please tell me? How so you stop mother nature? What could we possibly do to stop the cycle she has been doing for 2 billion years. Your post is pointless cause there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop it.

a reply to: gflyg

Ever hear of the great Non Conformity, there is a period in time called the Snow Ball earth epoch and during this time the earth looked very much like Hoth from the Star wars movie The empire Strikes Back, it was frozen to the equators, this period started perhaps 2.2 to 2.3 billion years BC and ended approximately sometime between 750 to 550 million years BC, the so called Cambrian Explosion when life suddenly diverged into new species took place about 650 million BC so we know that very quickly after the ice started to retreat and free up space for it to diverge that life did just that.

But during the snow ball earth epoch there were probably MANY inter-glacial periods when the planet was also warm enough, the problem is that other than a few fossil's nearly everything was scoured away by the global ice sheet's to a depth of at least one mile - TWICE, so there could have been several entire inter-glacial ecosystem's that arose, gave rise to entire life tree's with branching species and then died back out when the ice came again so that only hardy lichen's, tiny sub-aquatic creatures and chemosynthetic extremophile bacteria survived between each of the Major planetary glaciations of the snow ball earth period in the earth's history.

Now remember that one to two miles of the entire earth's surface was scoured away, there are no fossil's or very few to show what did or may have existed between these great glacial scouring's and though not yet universally accepted the mounting evidence for the Snow Ball earth theory is gaining traction and is rapidly becoming an accepted theory, this in turn put's paid to supposed best known conditions on ancient earth BECAUSE the rocks that they use to show what composition the atmosphere had back when were mostly DEEP underground even then so are very poor sources for such data, this mean's that we really do not know as much as some would like to claim and the earth COULD have very well had complex eco-system's BEFORE the snow ball earth period as well.

So make that probably 99.9999 Percent of species have gone extinct, more if you factor in microscopic species.

Our own current Ice Age the Quaternary Glaciation (we are in an inter-glacial - glacial minimum period right now) is actually a very warm period even at it's coldest compared to these distantly ancient super ice ages of the Snow Ball earth epoch.
snowballearth.org...

Now it may be just conjecture to suggest that given how rapidly life adapted once the ice retreated at the end of the Snow Ball earth epoch that it may also have done so several time's when the Ice retreated DURING the snow ball earth period but I think that given how it did react in the Cambrian explosion that it is almost definite that it would have done so at those time's as well.

IF so ENTIRE Ecosystem's have been erased from our fossil record, Entire eco system's other than our's which has lasted though changed and suffered several major mass extinction's since the Cambrian Explosion (not an Explosion it's a term coined by fossil hunters to explain the sudden EXPLOSION of new life form's in the fossil record at that time) have come and gone on this planet perhaps several time's, perhaps - just perhaps even sentient life.

So we all in agreement , destroy Monsanto at any cost ?

a reply to: CrazeeWorld777

Your source is a known hoaxer.

originally posted by: gflyg
a reply to: CrazeeWorld777

Since the beginning of life on Earth 99.9 percent of the species that have been on this Earth has gone extinct. Very much like climate change There is nothing we can do to stop it. Mother nature kills everything at one point or another we might be able to slow it down a little but death too all is inevitable. So please tell me? How so you stop mother nature? What could we possibly do to stop the cycle she has been doing for 2 billion years. Your post is pointless cause there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop it.

You're wrong. It's not Mother nature but us who have done it and we could have prevented it from happening. If we didn't go cut down everything and rape the Earth of all its resources, much of the wildlife would still be here in abundance and over-populating the Earth hasn't helped either

a reply to: CrazeeWorld777

I have a suggestion...

You guys implement a bug tax, say 10% on all earned income. Send it to me and I'll be happy to send you all the bugs you want!

(Eh, that was hard to type out even... how do the Global Warming advocates type silly stuff so easily?)

The above was sarcasm, by the way. Insects are essential to the food chain. Luckily we do have quite the assortment here that seem to be doing just fine. Someone built a tarmac for the mosquitoes a couple miles away and that has helped with them abducting small children and raping buzzards here.

JAGStorm has the real reason, though. Stop with the poisoning already! Poison does not just kill the things one wants it to; it kills everything. Nature is a cycle and a balance; if the insects get out of control, the bats and birds will move in to take advantage of the smorgasbord. When the insect population drops too low, they'll go elsewhere. If there's no elsewhere to go to with enough food, however, they'll die off. Introduce poison and the whole chain gets out of whack. The birds eat poisoned insects and die themselves, and suddenly the insects and birds disappear (and some fool who just returned from spraying poison will scream for days about the planet being too hot). The insects will recover soon enough (and this time be resistant to the poison) but the birds will take longer, leading to an even worse insect infestation that destroys crops and hurts an entire ecosystem of herbivores.

And our response? More poison!

Heaven save us from those who want to save us...

TheRedneck

a reply to: JAGStorm

It is because of people like a freaking neighbor I have down the road. She is a city person that moved to the country.

We really need an ecological IQ test before people are allowed to move anywhere with less than 100 people per square mile. Actually, it would be nice if they were required to take it before going anywhere with a population of less than 100 people per square mile...

There's an easy way to get rid of people like you describe, though. Just set up a target range somewhere close (not against the property line, but close enough to be a nuisance) and advertise it by word of mouth. Have a few all-night shooting parties, complete with the local rednecks and lots and lots of good beer. She'll pack up and run within a couple of months. Slickers have this innate fear of anything that goes bang, and they seem to be easily angered by rednecks, especially drunk rednecks.

I'm not going to suggest you hunt up a few dozen chicken snakes and drop them off in her front yard just before sunup... that would be cruel (to the snakes). Don't do that.

As for her wanting to sue someone? Around here that would lead to some serious problems... dangerous problems even. Things like her car being disassembled at night, or someone taking a four-wheeler to her yard after a good soaking rain and turning it into a muddy rut field. I've even seen windows broken out with thrown bricks over stuff like that. Slickers need to understand something, and I am being deadly serious here: you are moving into an area which has a culture much, much different from yours by necessity. Those who do this to any culture without being willing to adapt are not neighbors... they are invaders. Expect to be treated like an invader.

Poisoning weeds out of fear... this woman shoudn't be allowed anywhere that is not already coated in nice, sterile concrete and sealed with plastic! Be careful letting your dogs play with hers... it is probably so covered in more poison for fleas that one lick could be fatal.

TheRedneck

Youre right, you should be able to tell your neighbor how to live, especially because she isn't from where you are from. Deny her the right to prune her lawn and discuss with her neighbors...

So you are saying you have an issue with foreigners?

a reply to: JAGStorm

originally posted by: Rob808
Youre right, you should be able to tell your neighbor how to live, especially because she isn't from where you are from. Deny her the right to prune her lawn and discuss with her neighbors...

So you are saying you have an issue with foreigners?

a reply to: JAGStorm

I'ma go out on a limb and suggest jag has an issue with the irresponsible use of pesticides.

Get it?

The folks spraying enough poison to do damage isn't your neighbors... its the farmers and businesses in argriculture. A little bottle of weed b gone vs literal tons of pesticide. But blame the foreigners!

a reply to: TheRedneck

And im going out on a limb and JAG really doesn't have any say in someone else's yard care...
get it?
a reply to: vonclod

a reply to: Rob808

Why not?

I agree that commercial operations are worse.

a reply to: Rob808
Jag can say what she likes.

Kinda weird, you seem to have some vested interest in poisoning your yard.

a reply to: Rob808

Youre right, you should be able to tell your neighbor how to live, especially because she isn't from where you are from.

Slickers are from a place where...

• Home Owner Associations define exactly what people do on their property, down to and including what color their homes can be, what size their homes can be, installation restrictions on common appurtenances such as satellite dishes, and even how long their garage door can be open.
  
• Global Warming activists are constantly attempting to pass laws such as to regulate how much meat one can eat.
  
• City Ordinances state what activities one may engage in on their own property, including within the confines of one's own home.
  
• Any repair or renovation of a building must be accompanied by written permission from the city government.
  
• The city determines what type of building materials may be used.
  
• Often improvements such as solar power are outlawed.
  
• Noise ordinances determine how loud one can be.
  
• Many types of pets are outlawed, and just feeding a starving animal makes it considered to be a pet.
  
• City property (sidewalks) are required to be maintained by homeowners who do not own nor have any say in their use.
  
• One may not work on personal automobiles on one's property.

...and there are more, but I'm tired of typing. So your argument is completely outrageous and hypocritical, especially when the activity being complained about has direct and devastating consequences on the areas not owned by the slicker in question. She should be well used to people telling her what to do with her property.

That post is not a pot calling a kettle black.. it is a lump of coal calling a fresh sheet of paper black!

TheRedneck

I live in the uk, and the only insects can honestly remember seeing in the last few years are ants, flies a few spiders and the odd bee. Butterflies too in the summer.

Then again i haven't actually went looking for insects.

Not at all, i have a vested interest in choosing how I live my life which includes my own ability to decide to spray weeds or not regardless of my annoying neighbors who think because of where they are from along with myself... they have some claim on my property.

JAGs neighbor can ignore JAG and if it turns into a heated enough issue, file a civil case...

a reply to: vonclod

Did I hit a glimmer of truth? Sorry I think you don't understand how to define a hypocrite... although great job at defining "slicker"

In short, you seem to dig in on those "slickers" being a problem for you locals. If your neighbor wants to spray their lawn what gives you the right to tell them no? Are you a "slicker" on a coop board?

That was a big response to not say much.





a reply to: TheRedneck

originally posted by: Xabi87
I live in the uk, and the only insects can honestly remember seeing in the last few years are ants, flies a few spiders and the odd bee. Butterflies too in the summer.

Then again i haven't actually went looking for insects.

You should because there aren't many around. I even live right next a pretty big forest and I don't see any imsects when walking through it, this includes spiders and only birds i see are crows, pigeons, seagulls and swans in the lake

Another report out today about 'lights' causing problems for insects aswell:

www.msn.com...

Light pollution is a significant but overlooked driver of the rapid decline of insect populations, according to the most comprehensive review of the scientific evidence to date.

Artificial light at night can affect every aspect of insects’ lives, the researchers said, from luring moths to their deaths around bulbs, to spotlighting insect prey for rats and toads, to obscuring the mating signals of fireflies.

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a close up of a sign: Photograph: Simone De Peak/Getty Images© Provided by Guardian News & Media Limited Photograph: Simone De Peak/Getty Images
Light pollution is a significant but overlooked driver of the rapid decline of insect populations, according to the most comprehensive review of the scientific evidence to date.

Artificial light at night can affect every aspect of insects’ lives, the researchers said, from luring moths to their deaths around bulbs, to spotlighting insect prey for rats and toads, to obscuring the mating signals of fireflies.

“We strongly believe artificial light at night – in combination with habitat loss, chemical pollution, invasive species, and climate change – is driving insect declines,” the scientists concluded after assessing more than 150 studies. “We posit here that artificial light at night is another important – but often overlooked – bringer of the insect apocalypse.”

Related: Leaf blowers contributing to ‘insect armageddon’

However, unlike other drivers of decline, light pollution was relatively easy to prevent, the team said, by switching off unnecessary lights and using proper shades. “Doing so could greatly reduce insect losses immediately,” they said.

Brett Seymoure, a behavioural ecologist at Washington University in St Louis and senior author of the review, said: “Artificial light at night is human-caused lighting – ranging from streetlights to gas flares from oil extraction. It can affect insects in pretty much every imaginable part of their lives.”

Dung beetle at night© Getty Dung beetle at night
Insect population collapses have been reported in Germany and Puerto Rico, and the first global scientific review, published in February, said widespread declines threatened to cause a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”.

The latest review says: “Insects around the world are rapidly declining. Their absence would have devastating consequences for life on this planet.”

There are thought to be millions of insect species, most still unknown to science, and about half are nocturnal. Those active in the day may also be disturbed by light at night when they are at rest.

The analysis, published in the journal Biological Conservation, notes that light has long been used deliberately by farmers to suppress insects. But as human infrastructure has expanded, and the cost of lighting has fallen, light pollution has come to affect a quarter of the world’s land surface.

The most familiar impact of light pollution is moths flapping around a bulb, mistaking it for the moon. One-third of insects trapped in the orbit of such lights die before morning, according to work cited in the review, either through exhaustion or being eaten.

Recent research in the UK found greater losses of moths at light-polluted sites than dark ones. Vehicle headlights pose a deadly moving hazard, and this fatal attraction has been estimated to result in 100 billion insect deaths per summer in Germany.

Artificial light also hinders insects finding a mate in some species, the review found, most obviously in firefly beetles, which exchange bioluminescent signals during courtship.

The evidence that light pollution has profound and serious impacts on ecosystems is overwhelmingly strong,” said Matt Shardlow, the chief executive of the conservation charity Buglife. “It is imperative that society now takes substantial steps to make the environment safer for insects.

“A national light-reduction target, enforceable in law, would be the most appropriate next step.” He said new UK government light-pollution guidance failed to take into account the insect decline crisis.