• Kbin_space_program@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Not just the bees, all bugs in North America have seen a 75% die off in the last 20 years.

    Big shocker that songbirds, which eat those bugs, have also seen a massive die off.

    Despite those deniers that still blame housecats, the true culprit is almost certainly pollution and pesticides.

    • cobra89@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      Despite those deniers that still blame housecats

      Both things can be true. They aren’t mutually exclusive.

      Also we have less pollution and pesticide use than we did in the 60s and 70s. Why is it just becoming a problem now?

      • DrCatface@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        less pollution? that cannot possibly be true. according to dr google 1970s world population was 3.7b, now we’re more than double that

        • Redscare867@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          I’m the US, the EPA was created in the 1970’s. We definitely have less pollution (of certain types) today than we did in the past. Some notable examples of how disgustingly polluted American skies and waterways were in the past:

          The skies of Pittsburgh, PA

          the Cuyahoga River fire

          Coal Production has also been declining

          And then of course less visible examples like the Montreal Protocol stopping corporations from depleting the ozone layer.

          My point is in terms of greenhouse gas production we are much higher than in the 60’s and 70’s, but we have massively improved in a lot of areas. Of course there is still room to improve.

    • LordKitsuna@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’d say and cars just think about how many bug splatters you see on an average decent trip on the highway now multiply that by the millions of cars on the road daily. It’s not the root cause but it certainly didn’t help

      • Kbin_space_program@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Oh certainly can’t help. But we know that the pesticides and herbicides have carryon effects to unintended species. Ones that the parent companies that invented them didn’t report on because they don’t kill those species. Ones that don’t necessarily kill them, but lead to things like the white nose fungus running amock in bats, or lead to Colony Collapse Disorder or other infections in bee colonies.

        • kbotc@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Why would white nose fungus and pesticides be linked in the slightest? The issue with that is tourists who don’t want to admit they’ve been driving from national park to national park visiting each cave along the way without sanitizing anything. Same reason Zebra Mussels are spreading so rapidly. Just like people blaming 5G for COVID: It’s easier to externalize blame rather that come to terms with the, frankly, minuscule amount of spores that are needed to destroy the entire roosting colony.

    • TheSlad@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Im gonna dig a pit in my backyard and make a pond. Its gonna be a lot of work but it will all be worth it when i sit out on my patio in the morning sipping coffee to the sound croaking frogs, buzzing bugs, and chirping birds.

      • Scubus@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        You will want to be careful doing that. It needs to be big enough to have differential temperature so the water moves, therefore aerating it. Without air in the water nothing but mosquitos can live or breed in it. Also, depending on the soil and whether you are above the water line, you may not be able to keep enough water in it between rainfalls.

        I’m sure you can look up how to do one properly, I just want to to be aware it’s not as simple as dig a hole and fill it with water, because that will do more damage than good.

        • TheSlad@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Of course I’ve been doing a lot of research dont worry. And also I’ll be using a pond liner