Thread by @ClimateBen

Insect crisis:

1. 98% loss in some regions
2. food chain disruption risk
3. abundance/biodiversity decline
4. other arthropods vanishing too
5. entomologists: situation is dire
6. culprits: habitat destruction pesticides & climate change

Humans won't survive on an empty planet.

98% of insect population vanishes from rainforest in Puerto Rico.

"Holy crap."

washingtonpost.com/science/2018/1…

Cascading effects on food webs.

'Earth’s bugs outweigh humans 17 times over and are such a fundamental foundation of the food chain that scientists say a crash in insect numbers risks “ecological Armageddon”..

Expert called the findings “hyper-alarming”.'nationalobserver.com/2019/01/15/new…

Various factors, from monoculture farming to habitat loss, are to blame.

e360.yale.edu/features/insec…

Population collapses of arthropods on a planetary scale. theconversation.com/climate-change…

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

news.mongabay.com/2019/06/the-gr…

Intensive agriculture is wiping out insects.
bbc.com/news/science-e…

'insect declines are real, and they’re every bit as severe as had been feared'

nature.com/articles/d4158…

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

When a scientist who studies the essential role insects play in the health of the ecosystem calls a new study on the dramatic decline of bug populations... “one of the most disturbing articles” he’s ever read, it’s time for the world to pay attention.truthdig.com/articles/insec…

Plummeting populations could 'deeply impact ecosystems and human civilization' as insects form the base of the food chain, pollinate, dispose of waste & enliven soils.

Despite strong evidence, limited data makes it hard for scientists to be certain about the depth of the crisis.