this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2023
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At first Adam Smith couldn’t believe his calculations. Then it sank in.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Anybody in their 30s or so would remember there used to be a hell of a lot more bugs than there are now and they’re just gone now.

It’s so crazy. You see butterfly bushes and flowers and stuff and there’s no bees or butterflies or anything on them anymore. It’s crazy. I’m assuming that’s a big part of bird population declines.

[–] Lakija 2 points 1 year ago

I’m seeing bees, and butterflies coming back, lightning bugs. But not enough. Not nearly. I know it’s only cause my block has native plants on purpose to attract them.

Otherwise I barely see anything else. Except lots of dragonflies and damn mosquitoes.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm seeing more and more bugs due to climate change. Tick and mosquitos are getting far worse in my area YoY.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I guess I was mainly referring to the kinda you’d want to see like pollinators

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Cat predation is the primary cause too, likely about 75% of it. https://www.fws.gov/library/collections/threats-birds

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

That's a red herring report and is completely unreliable IMO. It lists poison as unknown but at an absolutely minuscule number, but given what we know about pesticides and herbicides, they are unquestionably the absolute true cause.

Recall that prior to the EU publishing reports showing that glyphosate based herbicides like the incredibly common Roundup were behind "Colony Collapse Disorder" that a whole bunch of false causes were being dolled out and trotted out as the cause.

In the last 5-6 years we've found out that various major pesticide/herbicides have far more wide ranging effects than what the companies selling them have claimed they do. They claimed various pesticides to control root-eating worms, built into GMO crops would last 50-60 years, they lasted 5 before the worms developed immunity. Worse, they did climb up into the flowers when companies like Monsanto said it was impossible; so they were poisoning good bugs along with the targeted ones. Not to mention that they claimed the pesticides wouldn't accumulate in predators that ate the bugs, or in us, and both of those claims are false too.

The cause is pesticides and herbicides, not flipping cats my dude.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Fucking lol.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

my anecdotal experience is quite the opposite. but it might be because I've started to pay more attention to birds.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

And we will lose more. Eventually all that will be left will be slaves, billionaires, and cockroaches.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Unfortunate to see the birds go away.