[ti:New Studies Show Drops in World Insect Population]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]The world's top insect experts say our planet's important insect population
[00:08.60]is going through a "death by a thousand cuts."
[00:13.28]A new group of studies suggests Earth
[00:16.76]is losing around 1 to 2 percent of its insects each year.
[00:24.00]The losses are blamed on climate change, pollution,
[00:28.88]agriculture, land use changes and chemicals.
[00:34.36]David Wagner of the University of Connecticut
[00:38.96]is the lead writer of the 12 studies, which recently appeared
[00:45.00]in Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences.
[00:50.24]The research involved 56 scientists from around the world.
[00:56.44]The problem, sometimes called the insect apocalypse, is a complex issue.
[01:04.40]Even scientists say they do not fully understand it.
[01:10.00]And the complexity of the issue makes it hard
[01:14.40]to get the public interested in possible solutions.
[01:19.20]Wagner said scientists need to find out if the levels of insect loss
[01:25.72]are bigger in comparison to other species.
[01:30.28]"There is some reason to worry more," he added,
[01:34.24]"because they [insects] are the target of attack"
[01:37.36]with insecticides, herbicides and light pollution.
[01:43.00]Insecticides and herbicides
[01:46.00]are special kinds of chemicals that can kill insects or plants.
[01:52.56]May Berenbaum of the University of Illinois helped lead the research.
[01:59.08]She compared the insect losses to climate change 30 years ago.
[02:05.32]She said back then, the methods used to measure the degree
[02:10.80]and rate of climate change effects were difficult.
[02:15.28]Berenbaum says another issue
[02:17.92]is that many people simply hate insects.
[02:22.00]She added that this is true
[02:24.52]even though the small creatures do a lot of good.
[02:29.16]They pollinate the world's foods, get rid of waste
[02:33.76]and play an important part in the food chain.
[02:38.16]Insects are "the fabric by which Mother Nature
[02:42.72]and the tree of life are built," Wagner said.
[02:47.68]Fabric is a kind of woven or knitted material.
[02:53.32]The term can also mean the basic structure of something.
[02:58.60]Wagner said two famous insects,
[03:01.60]honeybees and Monarch butterflies,
[03:04.92]are good examples of the current problems insects face.
[03:10.84]Honeybees have been disappearing because of disease,
[03:14.88]parasites, insecticides, herbicides and lack of food.
[03:21.20]Drier weather in the U.S. West, driven by climate change,
[03:26.60]means less milkweed for butterflies to eat, Wagner said.
[03:32.20]And changes in American agriculture
[03:35.96]remove weeds and flowers they need for nectar.
[03:40.08]"We're creating a giant biological desert
[03:44.44]except for soybeans and corn in a giant area of the Midwest," he said.
[03:52.12]The recent scientific papers do not provide new data.
[03:57.56]They show a big but incomplete picture of a problem
[04:02.72]that is starting to get more attention.
[04:05.88]Scientists have identified 1 million insect species,
[04:11.08]while up to 4 million more are likely to be discovered, Berenbaum said.
[04:17.96]Doug Tallamy of the University of Delaware was not part of the studies.
[04:25.52]But he said the research demonstrates how the world
[04:29.72]has "spent the last 30 years spending billions of dollars
[04:35.04]finding new ways to kill insects and mere pennies working to preserve them."
[04:42.04]Pennies are a small amount of money.
[04:45.64]In an email to the Associated Press,
[04:49.00]Tallamy said the good news was that people themselves
[04:53.84]can do a lot to stop insect losses.
[04:58.36]"This is a global problem with a grassroots solution," he wrote.
[05:04.20]I'm John Russell. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM