SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, said humanity "should save insects, if not for their sake, then for our own sake." (Photo: Gerald Bray/Getty Images)
Insects Are 'Glue in Nature' and Must Be Rescued to Save Humanity, Says Top Scientist
Rapidly falling insect populations, said Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, "will make it even more difficult than today to get enough food for the human population of the planet, to get good health and freshwater for everybody."
May 07, 2019
A leading scientist warned Tuesday that the rapid decline of insects around the world poses an existential threat to humanity and action must be taken to rescue them "while we still have time."
Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and one of the world's top entomologists, said in an interview with The Guardian that the importance of insects to the planet should spur humans to take immediate action against one of the major causes of insect decline--the climate crisis.
"Insects are the glue in nature," said Sverdrup-Thygeson. "We should save insects, if not for their sake, then for our own sake."
"You can pull out some threads but at some stage the whole fabric unravels and then we will really see the consequences."
--Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Falling insect populations around the world is cause for serious alarm, Sverdrup-Thygeson said, given the enormous impact these tiny creatures have on the global ecosystem.
"I have read pretty much every study in English and I haven't seen a single one where entomologists don't believe the main message that a lot of insect species are definitely declining," said Sverdrup-Thygeson. "When you throw all the pesticides and climate change on top of that, it is not very cool to be an insect today."
If this decline continues unabated, Sverdrup-Thygeson warned, soon "it will not be fun to be a human on this planet either."
"[I]t will make it even more difficult than today to get enough food for the human population of the planet, to get good health and freshwater for everybody," said Sverdrup-Thygeson. "That should be a huge motivation for doing something while we still have time."
"You can pull out some threads," she added, "but at some stage the whole fabric unravels and then we will really see the consequences."
\u201cThe complex systems of nature are like a hammock upon which humanity is resting: \u201cYou can pull out some threads but at some stage the whole fabric unravels and then we will really see the consequences.\u201d #IPBES7 https://t.co/vn2dxkKx5Z\u201d— Rewilding Britain (@Rewilding Britain) 1557216363
Sverdrup-Thygeson's call to action came after the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released a comprehensive global biodiversity report, which warned that human activity has pushed a million plant and animal species to the brink of extinction.
According to the report, "available evidence supports a tentative estimate of 10 percent [of insect species] being threatened" by the climate crisis.
"It is not too late to make a difference," said IPBES chair Sir Robert Watson, "but only if we start now at every level from local to global."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A leading scientist warned Tuesday that the rapid decline of insects around the world poses an existential threat to humanity and action must be taken to rescue them "while we still have time."
Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and one of the world's top entomologists, said in an interview with The Guardian that the importance of insects to the planet should spur humans to take immediate action against one of the major causes of insect decline--the climate crisis.
"Insects are the glue in nature," said Sverdrup-Thygeson. "We should save insects, if not for their sake, then for our own sake."
"You can pull out some threads but at some stage the whole fabric unravels and then we will really see the consequences."
--Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Falling insect populations around the world is cause for serious alarm, Sverdrup-Thygeson said, given the enormous impact these tiny creatures have on the global ecosystem.
"I have read pretty much every study in English and I haven't seen a single one where entomologists don't believe the main message that a lot of insect species are definitely declining," said Sverdrup-Thygeson. "When you throw all the pesticides and climate change on top of that, it is not very cool to be an insect today."
If this decline continues unabated, Sverdrup-Thygeson warned, soon "it will not be fun to be a human on this planet either."
"[I]t will make it even more difficult than today to get enough food for the human population of the planet, to get good health and freshwater for everybody," said Sverdrup-Thygeson. "That should be a huge motivation for doing something while we still have time."
"You can pull out some threads," she added, "but at some stage the whole fabric unravels and then we will really see the consequences."
\u201cThe complex systems of nature are like a hammock upon which humanity is resting: \u201cYou can pull out some threads but at some stage the whole fabric unravels and then we will really see the consequences.\u201d #IPBES7 https://t.co/vn2dxkKx5Z\u201d— Rewilding Britain (@Rewilding Britain) 1557216363
Sverdrup-Thygeson's call to action came after the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released a comprehensive global biodiversity report, which warned that human activity has pushed a million plant and animal species to the brink of extinction.
According to the report, "available evidence supports a tentative estimate of 10 percent [of insect species] being threatened" by the climate crisis.
"It is not too late to make a difference," said IPBES chair Sir Robert Watson, "but only if we start now at every level from local to global."
A leading scientist warned Tuesday that the rapid decline of insects around the world poses an existential threat to humanity and action must be taken to rescue them "while we still have time."
Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and one of the world's top entomologists, said in an interview with The Guardian that the importance of insects to the planet should spur humans to take immediate action against one of the major causes of insect decline--the climate crisis.
"Insects are the glue in nature," said Sverdrup-Thygeson. "We should save insects, if not for their sake, then for our own sake."
"You can pull out some threads but at some stage the whole fabric unravels and then we will really see the consequences."
--Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Falling insect populations around the world is cause for serious alarm, Sverdrup-Thygeson said, given the enormous impact these tiny creatures have on the global ecosystem.
"I have read pretty much every study in English and I haven't seen a single one where entomologists don't believe the main message that a lot of insect species are definitely declining," said Sverdrup-Thygeson. "When you throw all the pesticides and climate change on top of that, it is not very cool to be an insect today."
If this decline continues unabated, Sverdrup-Thygeson warned, soon "it will not be fun to be a human on this planet either."
"[I]t will make it even more difficult than today to get enough food for the human population of the planet, to get good health and freshwater for everybody," said Sverdrup-Thygeson. "That should be a huge motivation for doing something while we still have time."
"You can pull out some threads," she added, "but at some stage the whole fabric unravels and then we will really see the consequences."
\u201cThe complex systems of nature are like a hammock upon which humanity is resting: \u201cYou can pull out some threads but at some stage the whole fabric unravels and then we will really see the consequences.\u201d #IPBES7 https://t.co/vn2dxkKx5Z\u201d— Rewilding Britain (@Rewilding Britain) 1557216363
Sverdrup-Thygeson's call to action came after the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released a comprehensive global biodiversity report, which warned that human activity has pushed a million plant and animal species to the brink of extinction.
According to the report, "available evidence supports a tentative estimate of 10 percent [of insect species] being threatened" by the climate crisis.
"It is not too late to make a difference," said IPBES chair Sir Robert Watson, "but only if we start now at every level from local to global."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.