Habitat loss, pesticide use, and increasing climate change threaten insect populations worldwide. In 2019, Biological Conservation reported that 40% of all insect species are declining globally and one-third of them are threatened with extinction.
It might sound nice to be able to live without bugs, especially disgusting ones like cockroaches. But the fact is, as noted by environmental issue writer Oliver Milman, humans will actually lose money if they live without insects.
This is because insects play an important role in pollinating the plants we eat, breaking down waste in forest soil, and forming the basis of food chains on which other larger animals, including humans, rely.
"Earth would probably be a terrible place to live in, and certainly not something we want to go to," Milman said.
"Humans will experience mass starvation, and perhaps social unrest. Earth will be a place where there will be dung and rotting corpses everywhere as dung beetles and other insects that break down that material are gone," he illustrates.
Milman describes the disappearance of insects in his new book "The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World". He said while it was impossible to know for sure what was happening to every insect species in the world, it was clear the overall trend was not good.
For example, the monarch butterfly population in North America has plummeted in the last 40 years, and UN research conducted in 2019 found that half a million insect species are on the verge of extinction, and several are predicted to be extinct in the next few decades.
"The world, our environment, would be much quieter, much duller, much more drab without insects," he said.
"When you start digging into these numbers by looking at the research, it's clear that something is wrong. There's been a consistent decline in most insect populations, and that poses huge problems not only for them, but for us humans as well," explains Milman.
The loss of insects means the emergence of thunderous concerns about food insecurity. A 300% increase in the volume of agricultural production has depended on animal pollination in the last 50 years.
Without these creatures, we would not have fruits, vegetables and food sources. When we pull an insect out of the bottom of the food chain, everything above it gets messed up.
They are very important in terms of the basic foundation of forest and grassland ecosystems. In this case, we are talking about soil placement as nitrogen cycles through the soil ensuring that plants grow.
"We may hate mosquitoes, but they provide a lot of food for frogs as well as birds for example. So, in addition to the documented declines in insects, bird numbers are also reported to be declining in some countries, and birds that eat insects are faring much worse than birds that are omnivores. , like a crow," Milman said.
"Insects provide a very important basis for the food pyramid, and they provide a very important part of our overall environment."