World insect extinction is a catastrophe for us all including our cats

Sometimes it is too limiting to simply refer to domestic cats because some events are so big that they affect us all profoundly including our cat companions.

A catastrophe has been predicted as the world heads for an extinction of insects. An analysis published in the journal Biological Conservation concludes that insects could be extinct within a century. They say that 40% of insect species are in decline worldwide and a third are endangered. This represents a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”.

The rate of insect extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The number of insects is falling by 2.5% annually.

“If insect species losses cannot be halted, this will have catastrophic consequences for both the planet’s ecosystems and for the survival of mankind…” – Francisco Sánchez-Gayo

The reason is intensive agriculture using pesticides combined with urbanisation and climate change. If this dire state of affairs is not halted it will have catastrophic consequences for the world’s ecosystems and for humankind’s survival. It’s happening quickly and it is predicted that in 10 years the world will have a quarter less insect species and in 50 years only half the species will be left.

Without insects fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds will die. Humans have to find a different way of producing food otherwise insects will go down the path of extinction within a matter of a few decades.

I recently reported on the potential extinction of 300 big mammals. The reason is that humans are eating these mammals to extinction. Yes, humans are literally eating them off the planet.

I don’t want to be too pessimistic and critical of humankind but the great Sir David Attenborough described the human race as a “disease”. In terms of other species on the planet, humans are indeed a disease.

Source: The Times newspaper. The author of the review is Francisco Sánchez-Gayo from the University of Sydney.

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