Thread by @ClimateBen

Insect apocalypse:

1. 98% loss in some regions
2. entomologists: crisis is global
3. abundance/biodiversity decline
4. other arthropods vanishing too
5. link to bird, lizard, frog declines
6. fears for food chain
7. culprit: habitat destruction
8. also pesticides, climate change

'compelling evidence of a major problem — large-scale declines in the numbers and diversity of insects and other jointed invertebrates known as arthropods'

'insect declines are real, and they’re every bit as severe as had been feared'nature.com/articles/d4158…

The calamity appears to be across most insect families and happening around the world:

On a scale of 0 to 10, researchers on six continents rated the severity of the insect abundance crisis as either 8/10, 9/10 or 10/10.
news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-gr…

'Insects and spiders are declining in forests and grasslands across Germany...

Scientists have described the findings as "alarming", saying the losses are driven by intensive agriculture.

They are calling for a "paradigm shift" in land-use policy...'
bbc.com/news/science-e…

'potent link between intensifying heat waves and stunning declines in the abundance of arthropods'

'at a planetary scale, arthropods are suffering from a wide variety of environmental insults. There’s no single reason why their populations are collapsing.'theconversation.com/climate-change…