I don't know about where you live, but in Atlanta it hit me recently that fireflies have basically been disappearing. There used to be 100+ fireflies in my backyard during summer nights maybe 6 years ago or so and now I have only seen a couple all year. That being said I don't even remember seeing any at all the last couple of years. Something caused them to really take a hit in numbers and it is sort of bothersome that something so numerous could have its numbers reduced so quickly. I have noticed the same thing with bees too.
Mosquitoes never really bother me (yes, I know I am lucky), so I can't really say I have noticed a dip in their numbers. I wouldn't doubt it, but people still complain about them. Interesting, true story about mosquitoes: a mosquito bit me and immediately died. No lie. I was quite pleased with myself and the toxins that must run through my blood.
The problem with this, like more environmental issues, is we don't really know what to do. Well there is something extreme we can do. Have the world go to zero population growth or even negative. The reason for most of the environmental destruction is we need more and more everything of more and more humans.
There are environmental issues that are difficult to solve, and there are those that aren't. IMHO this really falls into the latter category. The farming industry in most of the modern world seems to have opted for methods that increase profits in the short term, then come back to bite you in the ass hard. It's pretty much lunacy, and unfortunately I don't know how much time there is to stop it. More recently people seem to have been working out more sustainable practices that still get decent yields. They'll probably still result in higher food prices, but honestly I think we'll manage. It's a lot better than intensive farming and "throw some more chemicals into the mix" approaches that will lead us to ecological disaster not too far away now, and then NO food... The harder problems as far as I see it include dealing with the increasing cost of energy when we've designed our cities for cheap energy for the last 50 years or so. There are still solutions to that, but not particularly satisfactory ones. Meh. Don't want to sound like a greenie, but I do think it'd be nice if people actually thought about the consequences of their actions in industry.
Yeah. Honestly 100% "Amish" isn't needed though... even if we just convert to efficient organic methods it'll make quite a difference. That should buy us enough time to work out where things are still going wrong - but I don't really believe mechanisation of e.g. horticulture is a fundamentally bad thing - it greatly improves yields, doubly so with the amount of labour you'll probably have available. Modern technology is helpful, but it needs to be used in a responsible manner. I don't know how fast anything like that will happen though. If we're lucky the current issues with gas prices, and of course these bees, will be enough for a wake-up call. It'd be really nice if a more controlled economy like China could show some leadership though, as to the way things should be done.
I'm 52..I have watched the fireflys be fewer and fewer every year. They were every where when I was young. They were the first bug I noticed being wiped out.Then less frogs than before. Now I see less bees. One day Ill be telling my grand nieces/nephews about Fireflys..they wont believe me tho.
There are a few problems with this. First, who determines who has to farm/raise livestock/whatever? What happens to academic professions? Second, what about manufacturing tools, clothing, and such? It is more energy efficient to use constantly running factories that are constantly being supplied resources than it is for a person to hand make everything (some things can't be hand made as well). Factories and people may use different types of energy, but it is still all energy. Third, what if you live in an area where the environment is unsuitable to be fully self-sustainable? If you're not near any source of water then it is obviously going to have to be shipped in from elsewhere. Also, what about medicines/other health care? They need to be made and shipped from somewhere. I am sure there are other things, but I will just stop there. I think that is just too drastic. All we really need is to change how we produce things and companies need to sacrifice some profit for more environmentally friendly practices.
The bees got in their spaceships and left. Don't you people watch Doctor Who? Geez. (someone had to be the uber nerd)
I am not interested in arguing over something that won't happen, but I just can't agree with some of your points. I really don't care about the first point, it is always possible. The second and third points I just can't agree with because they don't take into account the shear number of people on this planet. People can't go back to the "old" ways because we don't have enough natural resources to do it. Instead of burning coal for heating and using construction materials for shelter/insulation we would be using trees and more trees and you know how many trees we have to spare. To be self sustainable the area would have to have access to trees and fresh water. Do you think the entire worlds population can live next to fresh water and massive sources of lumber? Also, if you plan on farming for food (you would have to as you can't self sustain enough animals without them over grazing if you are going to feed a sizable population) you will run into problems like this "In organic farming, soil fertility needs to be replenished with the application of organic fertilizers regularly. If the organic fertilizers are not produced locally, it might be difficult for the small farmer, who would purchase the fertilizers in small quantities to obtain them from elsewhere. Further due to low economies of scale, there might be a huge transportation cost associated with the organic fertilizers obtained from long distances." Source: http://www.organicfacts.net (Under organic cultivation/farming/limitations). Basically, you aren't going to find enough suitable locations to sustain the planet's population and we don't have the resources to do it anyway. Humanity has come to rely on our non-natural surroundings, such a drastic change like that won't happen and couldn't happen. Once again, I don't want to argue, but I find myself to be highly opinionated and I can't help it. This is especially true if there are personal attacks involved, ala "it's whats about what is best for everyone present and future, not just you." Ouch >.<
Thats weird because I have a small backyard and there are probably atleast 25 fireflies in my backyard every night this summer and I have never seen fireflies here before so maybe they are moving?