A third of all insects are now endangered animals, while a massive 40% of them now face extinction, a shocking new report claims.
This is the latest news in the extinction crisis.
The extinction crisis is not something which is set to happen in a far away future, the extinction crisis is upon us right now. The extinction crisis is also known as the sixth mass extinction. The sixth mass extinction is the earths sixth extinction, in which endangered animals are becoming increasingly common, and an alarming 200 species become extinct every single day. This, sixth extinction, is not caused by an asteroid which is wiping out earth (like what happened with the fifth, and previous extinction). Instead, this mass extinction is being caused by us: we are the asteroid.
The cause of this mass extinction is due to nature being destroyed by humans. Humanity is destroying the habitats of wild animals, which has resulted in an alarming rate of endangered animals. Endangered animals, and other animals, are also persecuted by humans in other ways - such as through the illegal wildlife trade.
Our impact on the natural world is alarming.
The alarming impact that we are having on the natural world is further highlight through this new report: that there are plummeting insect numbers, which could threaten the collapse of nature. The collapse of nature could happen due to endangered animals becoming extinct, a loss of habitats, and a loss in the worlds insect populations - all of these things are interlinked.
.40% of insects are threatened with extinction
. A third of insects are currently endangered animals
. Insects could vanish in as little as 100 years
The fact that insects are projected to vanish from the earth, and in just 100 years times, is alarming - and should be alarming to us. This would not just cause the collapse of nature, it would be catastrophic for humanity, as the food we eat and the air we breath relies on insects, and healthy functioning ecosystems.
Although alarming, these findings aren't entirely surprising. We already know that major ecosystems and many endangered animals will probably become extinct - especially if humanity does not do anything to prevent the loss of these ecosystems and endangered animals. Preserving endangered animals and our ecosystems is one of the main ways to prevent a catastrophe, as would be successfully tackling things such as climate change.
Endangered animals, ecosystems and the natural world itself faces the same challenges all around the world. Sadly, the forecast of an insect collapse is also something which is happening, and going to happen globally. In 2017, it was reported that insects in Germany were vanishing from the country. At the start of this year, it was reported that the Puerto Rican rainforest had lost a massive 98% of its insect population. In California, the Monarch Butterfly has declined by a massive 97%. And, last year there was a report that said that there was a 76% decline in insects, after a 27 year study on the insect population. These are just some of the findings that show that the earth is suffering from insect declines - an it is global.
There are other reasons why endangered animals such as insects are also declining: the use of pesticides. The use of pesticides is causing a significant effect on the insect population, other wild animals, and endangered animals. Pesticides are deadly for all wild animals.
As pesticides are used by farmers, it is agriculture that is one of the reasons that insects are declining. Agriculture does not just harm insects though; there are other wild animals which are affected by the agriculture industry. For example, there has been a loss of half of Hedgehogs in the UK countryside due to intensive farming. Hedgehogs are specifically affected by things such as hedgerows being taken away, which has played a role in their decline.
And this is what the report also shows...
That there are other wild animals affected.
Other wild animals are not just affected by intensive farming, they are also affected by the decline of insects. Many wild animals rely on insects for their survival, such as: hedgehogs, birds and badgers, are all reliant on insects for food. Therefore, if insect numbers fall, then other wild animal populations will fall. The insect population decline affects all of nature, as a decline of mammals and birds which rely on insects for their survival declining, will also have a knock on effect to wild animals who prey on these mammals and birds. Everything in nature is connected.
And we are also connected to nature, without nature, we cannot survive. Without insects we cannot survive. Not only do insects help pollinate the food we eat, they are also vital for the ecosystems that are on this earth. Ecosystems such as forests, could not function and remaining healthy without the insects which are vital to them.
But that is the thing.
With this report, that insect numbers are declining, and that a third of them are already endangered animals, it is another reminder to us that our ecosystems are not healthy. The evidence we have about not only insects, but other wild animals, especially endangered animals, is evidence that our ecosystems are not healthy.