Insect populations collapsing?
Recently, articles and posts have popped up purporting to aver that habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change are threatening insect populations worldwide. As far back as 2019, something called Biological Conservation reportedly reported that 40% of all insect species are declining globally — and that a third of them are actually "endangered."
Environmental writer Oliver Milman is, apparently, a believer of the "insect populations are rapidly collapsing around the globe" hypothesis, and he says human beings would be in big trouble sans insects. Milman notes that insects play critical roles in pollinating plants we eat, breaking down waste in forest soil, and forming the base of a food chain that other larger animals — including humans — rely upon.
Insects are so important, Milman stated, that a world without them "would be an extremely dire place to live in — and certainly not something we should ever aim for. You would certainly have mass starvation [and] societal unrest[.]"
And yet: Nevada residents are locking themselves inside their homes due to a recent infestation of Mormon crickets. Countless millions...billions?...of the cannibalistic insects have descended on their homes, lawns, businesses — and, well, everything else. Check out the videos in the link embedded in the first sentence of this paragraph.
I myself have never seen so many bugs where I live. On warm fall or spring days, teeming masses of boxelder bugs grotesquely writhe on our siding and sidewalk. Stink bugs penetrate home, garage, and grill like never before. (And you do not want to barbecue them.) There are often clouds of gnats so thick, usually head high, that you literally can't open your mouth without inhaling some. At times, mosquitoes are so thick that when you swing your bare arms, you feel many at a time deflecting off them. On a more positive note, dragonfly numbers have increased to match the bounty of mosquitoes.
So far, no giant bugs like those in the 1954 sci-fi horror classic Them.
And ants? Ants have colonized every square foot of ground. One or more "ant houses" protrudes from every crack in every sidewalk. Ant mounds bubble up from every yard — and in the center islands of highways and parking lots. Etc., etc. Ants are everywhere, including inside our houses! Silverfish, centipedes, millipedes, spiders (not technically insects)...ubiquitous all. Then there are roaches, flies — and assorted other insects that we don't recognize and can't name.
Is this just anecdotal? I think not. Tell me your stories.
And who labeled these particular insects "Mormon crickets"? Why Mormon? Seems like a slur to me. A clear case of bigotry. These crickets invaded Nevada, not Utah. Our leaders told us — in no uncertain terms — that we couldn't say "Wuhan Flu" or the "Chinese Virus" when referring to COVID-19, so why is the term "Mormon crickets" okay with them?
I can see why our earthly overlords, who want us to have a diet heavy on insects going forward, would be upset if insect populations were actually collapsing. Globalist types like Klaus Schwab are trying to cancel farms and steer us away from eating meat and dairy. And compel us to "eat ze bugs." But if insect populations are collapsing, what then will we eat?
I don't know about you, but when our leaders try to compel the rest of us to eat insects and bike to work while they fly around the world on private jets dining on prime rib and caviar, saying it bugs me would be an understatement.