Friday, April 02, 2021
Action needed to save the bees
Anybody who has read Maja Lunde's book 'The History of Bees' will understand the key role they play within the world's ecology system and the dramatic and devastating impact of them dying out will have on our environment and the survival of the human race. If you have not read it, then please do.
It was disturbing to read in the Guardian therefore, that new research has shown the toxic impact of pesticides on bees and other pollinators has doubled in a decade despite a fall in the amount of pesticide used.
The paper says modern pesticides have much lower toxicity to people, wild mammals and birds and are applied in lower amounts, but they are even more toxic to invertebrates. The study shows the higher toxicity outweighs the lower volumes, leading to a more deadly overall impact on pollinators and waterborne insects such as dragonflies and mayflies.
The research also shows that the toxic impact of pesticides used on genetically modified crops remains the same as conventional crops, despite claims that GM crops would reduce the need for pesticides.
Nearly sixty years after Rachel Carson's book 'Silent Spring' documented the adverse environmental effects caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides, we are still posing a threat to our own existence by the use of these toxic chemicals.
It was disturbing to read in the Guardian therefore, that new research has shown the toxic impact of pesticides on bees and other pollinators has doubled in a decade despite a fall in the amount of pesticide used.
The paper says modern pesticides have much lower toxicity to people, wild mammals and birds and are applied in lower amounts, but they are even more toxic to invertebrates. The study shows the higher toxicity outweighs the lower volumes, leading to a more deadly overall impact on pollinators and waterborne insects such as dragonflies and mayflies.
The research also shows that the toxic impact of pesticides used on genetically modified crops remains the same as conventional crops, despite claims that GM crops would reduce the need for pesticides.
Nearly sixty years after Rachel Carson's book 'Silent Spring' documented the adverse environmental effects caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides, we are still posing a threat to our own existence by the use of these toxic chemicals.
