As I write here in the shade of my back garden there are weather warnings of a risk of death and severe damage to infrastructure. A notification has come through on my phone displaying a picture of the front page of the Guardian for July 16th, it reads: “Thousands may die as record highs expected”.
I decide to walk to the grounds of my local hospital where there are a couple of large ponds, some shade and benches you can sit on and observe some wildlife. On my way I pass through a park where there is a good turn out for the local outdoor bowls match. I guess most of the players are in their 60s and 70s, some wearing shorts, some wearing trousers and nearly all of them donning white hats. On reaching the hospital I notice the car park almost empty, as it had been in the early lockdown phase of Covid. But by the ponds there are so few swallows, swifts and martins (house- and sand-) this summer. As each summer passes I notice there are fewer and fewer of them and I wonder why. This is happening worldwide and the barn swallow has seen a 95% drop in numbers across North America in the last 40 years.
These birds feed on insects and insects come out in warm and hot weather. Insects are crucial for pollinating plants, a process which is essential for reproducing a range of flowers and vegetables. Around 80% of U.K. plants are pollinated by insects, including a large number of our food crops. The U.K.’s flying insect population has declined by a staggering 60% in 20 years according to some reports. An insect Armageddon is underway, say many entomologists.
Why it can be such a joy to lack some knowledge, as I do in so many fields, is that it provides an incentive to think critically and do my own research. I want to look at both sides of the argument, resist any temptation to be swayed to one side or the other and increase my knowledge rather than just reach a conclusion. I want to know what is really going on. Those who have read Chris Morrison’s articles in the Daily Sceptic will be well informed that the argument for global warming, so relentlessly pushed by the BBC, doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. The articles cite convincing data provided by many climate experts who have been largely silenced by the mainstream media. The data categorically refute the BBC’s line.
So it’s early days for me in this research but I don’t think I should discount what I’ve seen with my own eyes. When I was a teenager in the 70s my dad’s car would be splattered all over with dead flies after a long car journey and I would spend a fair bit of time afterwards trying to wash the car clean.
Germany’s Federal Agency for Nature Conservation stresses that insects are a major food source not only for birds, but also for bats and amphibians. Another important role is played by specialised insects which prey upon the pest species. Jurgen Deckert, insect custodian of the Berlin Natural History Museum, says that he is worried the decline in insect population is gradual and that there’s a risk we will only take notice once it is too late.
So what are the possible causes of the alleged huge decline in insect numbers? “There are many indications that what we see is the result of a widespread poisoning of our landscape,” says Lief Miller, Director General of the German chapter of Birdlife International. Yet even environmental campaigners like Miller admit that the root causes and the full dimension of the problem aren’t yet fully understood. “I suspect it is a multiplicity of factors, most likely with habitat destruction, deforestation, fragmentation, urbanisation and agricultural conversion being the leading factors,” says Stanford ecologist Dirzo.
I find it interesting that all these ecological experts don’t put climate change or global warming as even a contender in their list of the causes, yet the BBC, the Guardian and other mainstream outlets try to tag it on to the end of their lists or even make it out to be the main cause.
But what about the arguments against a so-called insect Armageddon? Anecdata is not scientific data and some argue there is very little science quoted to back up the insect decline statements. Critics say collecting fewer insects off car number plates is likely to be affected by increasing numbers of cars on the road and modern designs that deflect them over the front wedge shape. They say bird numbers are very difficult to estimate and that swallows move around a lot and there might be a meteorological reason for a flight path changing.
Dr. Callum Macgregor from the Department of Biology at York University, who found “no evidence” for insect Armageddon, says:
If pesticides were causing the problem you would expect to see the biggest decline in arable landscapes; likewise, if it were light pollution (for moths), the biggest decline would be in urban environments. We found neither of these to be the case – in fact, the habitats with the biggest decline were woodland and grassland.
Briefly, here are three relevant questions from ecologist Manu Saunders:
- 1. What are the Insectageddon facts?
- i. Declines of some species or taxonomic groups are confirmed in some parts of the world, predominantly in Western Europe, U.K. and North America.
- ii. Human activities are definitely impacting insect populations.
- 2. What don’t we know?
- i. We don’t know anything about most insect species on earth. Only about a fifth of the estimated insect species are known to science.
- ii. Most of the published long-term data are from the U.K. and Europe – there are very limited data for the rest of the world.
- iii. Most available data from these regions are for a few groups of species.
- iv. Why are some species declining and some increasing?
- 3. How can we fix this?
- i. More conservation actions.
- ii. More research.
- iii. More funding.
I suppose it is inevitable that an ecologist will call for more funding, more research and more ecology, but in this case it does seem to be warranted.
So what I have learned from my early research into this debate is that I need not be quite so worried about an imminent ‘insect Armageddon’ but that I should be concerned about how little we really know about such a crucially important subject. It reminds me of my favourite quotation from Socrates: “A wise person understands that he knows nothing”. There is so much more to learn here and professional, principled and reputable broadcasters should never claim that science only has one particular viewpoint or that the science is ‘settled’.
Why are broadcasters trying to scare so many of us? It’s July, it should be hot in some parts of the U.K. When this mini heat-wave ends here (probably by Wednesday) you can bet on the BBC doggedly tracking and sensationalising any climate anomaly in all the far flung corners of the globe for the rest of the year. As with Covid, everything seems to be taken out of context and it’s almost as if these news outlets have been paid or bribed to set an agenda through a form of brainwashing.
So thank you, Guardian and BBC. I will, after much consideration, ignore your gloomy alarmism, and sing at the top of my voice:
The sun has got his hat on
Hip, hip, hip hooray
The sun has got his hat on
And he’s coming out today!
Dr. Mark Shaw is a retired dentist.
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“The sun has got his hat on
Hip, hip, hip hooray
The sun has got his hat on
And he’s coming out today!”
Blimey, even the sun is “woke” now, along with Father Christmas and the rest…
There is no doubt in my view that proper studies of insect populations need to be undertaken. I too remember the days gone by when any journey outside the town would result in a windscreen and front bonnet covered in splattered insects, but no more. The question is why?
Unfortunately, if this subject can be tacked on to another “crisis” some dishonest member(s) of ‘The Science’ will surely do so.
The subject is however more than worthy of in-depth study.
Have you ever considered that the angle of a car windscreen has changed and is now far more streamlined and thus insects are likely to pass over rather than splatter
The number plate’s not, and indeed there are several insects splatted on mine, I just checked.
Yes I have. Bird populations do seem to fluctuate wildly though. Done properly a study in to insect populations would be of far more value to humanity than the millions currently wasted on nonsensical and pointless climate change studies.
Found it remarkable yesterday how many insects invaded our house – never seen so many varied types; our little garden was thick with them and I was chasing butterflies around the house to try to remove them! This doesn’t tell us anything about wider patterns of course but the way the heat had seemingly brought millions of extra critters to life was quite something!
‘… proper studies of insect populations need to be undertaken.’
Why?
Bee populations are under pressure. So, possibly insect populations are too. What are the causes? What would be wrong with on-going studies into insect populations? As somebody has rightly pointed out insects form the basis of the food chain.
Until Billy starts screwing around of course.
I think swallows are low in number this year but around me loads of swifts, probably more than I ever remember. Martins probably a little lower on house martins but loads of sand martins around on the local river.
I cannot be convinced that the numbers of these birds have any relationship to insect armageddon – more likely varying environmental factors in their massive migrations.
There was a story a few years back about cuckoo numbers being down in England, but less so in Wales for some reason. I seem to remember a link with Malta was suggested and what they do to birds there.
(Speaking of Malta, I also seem to remember a story about Malta having “only” two different rubbish bins, and daily bin collections. Why are we so bad on this in the UK?).
Here in Thailand we have nightly rubbish collections. I have a recycler who comes and picks up all bottles(plastic and glass) cardboard paper and cans. These are provided by the local council and i do NOT pay for these services.
This is another interesting subject. Welsh and Scottish cuckoos are thought to take a different migratory path in the autumn compared with the English cuckoos. The English travel more SW through Spain and the Welsh and Scottish travel more SE through Italy. Feeding conditions here are much better as 95% of the tracked cuckoos safely reach their winter quarters. This is reflected in the better fate of their breeding populations; Welsh cuckoos have declined much less than in England and Scottish populations have remained stable.
The life cycle of the cuckoo is amazing!
Or events along their migration routes.
Insect Armageddon may have many causes, but discount Climate Change. Almost continuous geoengineering and its close relation the ever increasing level of radio frequency pollution should be near the top of any list.
radio frequency pollution
Can you elaborate?
If we’re facing insect Armageddon, it’s going to bugger-up their plan to make us all give up meat and instead eat insects.
I wonder what they’ll come up with next? Eat dirt?
Worms.
Cue singing…
‘Nobody likes me,
Everybody hates me.
I think I’ll eat some worms.
long thin slimy ones,
Short fat hairy ones.
See how they wiggle & squirm.
Bite their heads off,
Slurp the juice out, throw the skins away.
I don’t know how I could live without my worms three times a day!’
LOL! My first laugh of the day thank you!
My pleasure! Don’t think they teach it in the Brownies any more!!!
It might be on the verge of a comeback though if Billy hears about it.
There has definitely been a huge drop in the number of birds and insects in our garden here in Suffolk. The bee population has dropped dramatically as has the number of butterflies and so has the small birds – it has been quite a dramatic change. However the number of wood pigeons seem to have increased unfortunately.
Since a pair of peregrines took residence of the church spire, our pigeon population has been a tad smaller.
We have a few beekeepers in the village so we don’t want for honeybees but I’ve noticed fewer moths this year & reduced bat activity of an evening.
Lose the food at the bottom of the pyramid & the predator species suffer. Not until the predator species or the prey with PR are affected that we stupidly take note.
I bought a bug home, a luxury pad for insects which is on the house wall facing south, but as yet no one has taken up tenancy!
One of the many terrible harms of climate fraud is that genuine environmental and conservation causes have been sidelined or rubbished by association, as this article correctly highlights. I spent my childhood and younger years as an ardent conservationist, now I look at organisations like WWF and Greenpeace as the enemy. Even recycling, something I once felt quite strongly about, is tainted by association.
Insects undoubtedly need our concern and protection given their sensitivity to the toxins we routinely pump into the ecosystem. How ironic then that we take environmental lessons from one Bill Gates with his links to Monsanto. We’re living in a ghoulish inversion of reality.
No surprise but this matches my position in its entirety.
WRT recycling, from being very keen my position now is anything in any bin. I can of course kid myself that if I deliberately mix my rubbish I am virtuously providing somebody with work in a sorting plant.
Naiively I fantasise that our rubbish is sorted and recycled.
I don’t really believe any of it gets recycled, that if it is, it’s probably more energy intensive and that really, it’s all just an exercise in promoting communitarianism to break pleb individualism!
Yep.
I really liked this article – very well thought out and balanced. I think one thing to bear in mind is that bird populations vary as some are displaced by others. My personal impression was that Magpies were a rarity when I was a child in the 60s and (having just checked) this is confirmed by the RSPB. Starling populations, on the other hand, have declined significantly. I do think it is important to understand the reasons for these changes, but they may not, per se, be a sign of ecological catastrophe.
Tens – or is it hundreds – of thousands of wind turbines and acres of solar panels, both renowned for daily mass slaughter of avians and insects – could that have anything to do with it – particularly since climate change lunacy and these blots on the landscape are a pandemic of the Northern Hemisphere?
Plus: large areas of land now used for growing crops for biofuels, and large areas no longer farmed. Birds and insects adapted to previous conditions may have been affected.
And where is it writ except among creationalists, that all species must remain the same exactly as their creator intended?
So natural variability and evolution? Too difficult for biologists, naturalists? And of course anathema to ‘conservationists’ for whom NOTHING can be allowed to change.
“proper studies of insect populations need to be undertaken.’
Why?”
Have you not answered your own question?
Very odd.