Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson Audiobook

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• 
  howlafist
  November 7th, 2023
  

  3/4 of crops grown go to feeding livestock. Stop eating meat and the insects will have a chance.

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  illodiini
  November 7th, 2023
  

  

  @howlafist - That’s very true. Also many of the flowers used to decorate public outdoor places are useless, in some cases harmful, to insects, because they produce no pollen.

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  hesitation
  November 7th, 2023
  

  zero crops go to feeding organic grass-fed livestock, and insects galore everywhere.

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  howlafist
  November 7th, 2023
  

  “Organic grass-fed livestock” and “permaculture” and so on are coping mechanism stories meat-eaters tell themselves to hide from reality.

  Once upon a time all livestock were “grass fed”. Then the human population grew to a point where that was no longer possible. Around 100 years ago the global market, dealing with impending meat-eater famine, discovered it’s far more efficient to give animals soy as a high-protein fodder that helps them grow quickly to a “harvestable” size. They abandoned “organic” because there was already not enough land on the globe to support that many animals.

  Today humans and livestock outmass all wild mammals 24 to 1. Half the arable land on the planet is in use for growing crops, and in developed regions like the US that’s essentially all of it (meat consumption elsewhere is still growing). There is no room left for “organic”; there’s hardly room enough for the factory farms, and meanwhile all the fresh water sources everywhere are running out and there are global fertiliser shortages as well. It takes 10 times more water at least to produce a given amount of meat than growing plant “protein sources” directly (obviously so, because the latter feed the former). Just eat the soy yourself (or peas or chickpeas are ideal) and cut the animals out of the loop.

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  howlafist
  November 7th, 2023
  

  (”Livestock” above didn’t include birds. Using this older review from 2017, https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1711842115 , and including domesticated birds on the “livestock” side and wild birds on the other, the ratio comes down to 18~19 to 1.)

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  hesitation
  November 7th, 2023
  

  @howlafist

  X10 water requirements assumes you are irrigating crops and pasture. I live in rainy old England, none of my farm’s crops are irrigated, neither are the pastures used to graze the livestock. It is a statistic that does not reflect farming in reality, it also implies the water disappears, rather than continuing to grow vegetation that supports wildlife once that water is urinated.

  I agree that most livestock are being fed soy. Mine are not. I should point out that even those that are actually produce more protein than they consume, because the vast majority of their diet is made up of indigestible fibre that they convert to food. Indeed, with our own grass-fed livestock, they spend much of their time grazing the fields after we harvest cereals from them, turning straw stubble and “weeds” into food. It is not a zero-sum game.

  The vast majority of the land that I use to graze my livestock is unsuitable for growing cereals (believe me, I’ve tried), and therefore if we didn’t graze animals on them we would produce LESS food not more. We have been trying to expand the arable part of our farm for three generations, it is both unproductive and environmentally dubious. Some landscapes are just not best used for growing crops. I will continue to integrate both livestock and crops as I think the landscape is best capable of supporting.

  Please try to understand that the discourse around agriculture often fails to understand the nuanced reality of farming on the ground acre by acre, and makes generalisations that are unconstructive or misleading. Indeed I know of 4 people who began working on our farm growing vegetables who were vegans, they are now omnivores because they recognise and respect the way we raise livestock and how it integrates with the ecology of the landscape. I encourage you to remain as open minded.

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  howlafist
  November 8th, 2023
  

  The UK is a tiny backwater that imports half its food and is no longer relevant to global food production since the empire collapsed. Most people don’t live on frozen, muddy islands where the sun never shines, but instead in places where rainfall alone is not nearly sufficient, and so water tables are dropping, giant fissures are opening in the ground, and the Colorado river, among others, is running dry. It’s of course important to have nuance when looking at regional variance (e.g. almonds are also a hugely unnecessary water sink in California), but in general the global crises surrounding food: soil depletion and fertiliser shortages, mass insect die off, running out of water, could all be alleviated instantly if most people on earth agreed to stop eating meat. Other problems exist, long supply chains and needless waste, but they are lesser influences.

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  apnea
  November 8th, 2023
  

  

  In the 1960’s & 1970’s summer vacation trips were by car for the majority. Big gas sucking cars meant many stops a gas stations. The front end, hood & windshield looked like an ancient battle field, covered in blood & guts & wings & bug bits galore. It took some serious elbow grease, dirty water & squeegee to get it clean, only to be just as gut-N-bloody at the next stop. 2 years ago I drove from Vancouver to Calgary and there was a dozen hits per stop. Almost nothing. Humans count on hundreds of species for their survival. Humans have badly torn the web of life & there are going to be horrific consequences no matter what. Doing nothing BAU brings it on harder & faster.
  ‘
  **Experts Say Humanity Faces a Grim and “Ghastly Future” – State of Planet Is Much Worse Than Most People Understand**
  ‘
  “The state of the planet is much worse than most people understand and that humans face a grim and “ghastly future” unless extraordinary action is taken soon.

  A loss of biodiversity and accelerating climate change in the coming decades coupled with ignorance and inaction is threatening the survival of all species, including our very own, according to the experts from institutions including Stanford University, UCLA, and Flinders University.

  The researchers state that world leaders need a ‘cold shower’ regarding the state of our environment, both to plan and act to avoid a ghastly future.

  Lead author Professor Corey Bradshaw of Flinders University in Australia says he and his colleagues have summarized the state of the natural world in stark form to help clarify the gravity of the human predicament.

  “Humanity is causing a rapid loss of biodiversity and, with it, Earth’s ability to support complex life. But the mainstream is having difficulty grasping the magnitude of this loss, despite the steady erosion of the fabric of human civilization” Professor Bradshaw says.

  “In fact, the scale of the threats to the biosphere and all its lifeforms is so great that it is difficult to grasp for even well-informed experts.

  “The problem is compounded by ignorance and short-term self-interest, with the pursuit of wealth and political interests stymying the action that is crucial for survival,” he says.”
  ‘
  https://scitechdaily.com/experts-say-humanity-faces-a-grim-and-ghastly-future-state-of-planet-is-much-worse-than-most-people-understand/
  ‘
  I feel sorry for younger people, but even 40 year olds are going to have shorter lives. Life expectancy in the US has been going down for years & it’s not in the same league as the other G7 nations.

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  privateero
  November 8th, 2023
  

  @howlafist in actual fact its shown with permaculture practices, you can get the same protein with aquaculture using only 4% of the land, and so the issue is with the crony system and the captured academia that pumps out chemical industrial farming practices that are obsolete. We have actually gone backwards in this area of life compared to say the aztecs who used chimampa systems.

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  apnea
  November 8th, 2023
  

  

  As for stopping meat eating, if you want my steak you’ll have to pry it from my cold dead hand.

  First, humans havenever slowed down on purpose no matter how many warnings & they crossed the point of no return 2 decades ago. Most importantly, the humans are not worth the effort. Extinction will be a mercy & end all the pain, fear, rape, torture, murder & suffering for humans & other creatures.
  ………..

  **Carbon dioxide emissions reached a record high in 2022**

  “NEW YORK (AP) — Communities around the world emitted more carbon dioxide in 2022 than in any other year on records dating to 1900..”

  https://apnews.com/article/climate-emissions-global-warming-carbon-dioxide-coal-494ef490f16abe381ea2a4107f779670

  2023 will likely go down as the warmest year on record.
  The record smashing humans fossil fuel frenzy is far from finished.

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  Artur1
  November 8th, 2023
  

  Placed in the wrong category. Should be ecology

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  hesitation
  November 8th, 2023
  

  @howlafist

  It is a pity you chose to avoid discussing my lengthy reply to your concerns by simply coming up with insulting names for an island of 80 million people, and by conveniently asserting that most crops are grown in “dryland” agricultural systems. Less than 20% of agricultural land is irrigated. Indeed, native-wild pastures without irrigation are perhaps the most resilient food production system that can be made in arid places. Please stop parroting talking points from woke Californians as if you represent the world better than my island “backwater”.

  The book you commented upon is about declining insects. It is extreme hubris to assume this recent experiment with modern industrialised farming is sustainable in the long term with the soil erosion, eutrophication, and biodiversity loss it causes. Organic farming (i.e. farming for the last few thousand years) and grass-fed livestock pre-date the decline in insects and are clearly nothing to do with it as they don’t require insecticides.

  I work with livestock and wildlife every day. I see the impact of what I do, and where by food comes from.

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  howlafist
  November 8th, 2023
  

  The UK gets its soy from the americas and uses it to feed livestock.

  Both Brazil and the US have water depletion issues, caused by growing these crops.

  And, if you’d read the book above, you’d know he extensively discusses neonicotinoids and other pesticides, as well as fungicides and herbicides like roundup, that are used heavily to grow these crops and are the primary cause of the mass death of insects.

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  howlafist
  November 8th, 2023
  

  If the demand for meat could be satisfied with the old practices, the world never would have switched.

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  hesitation
  November 8th, 2023
  

  Exactly. Insecticides not cattle are the problem. I agree that livestock in the UK should not be fed imported soy, when have I said otherwise?

  So because organic + grass-fed meat production cannot meet demand, you propose that people eat no meat at all.

  Correct me if I’m wrong, but SOME meat is more than NO meat. Ergo your proposal is absurd for the reasons I outlined before: where crop residues and land not suitable for crops can provide for ruminants. Far more meat than you would expect can still be produced this way.

  There are over 60 species of dung beetle in the UK alone. My cattle provide for insects wherever they tread.

  Nuance man. Acquire some.

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  Hogweed
  November 9th, 2023
  

  Lower the populations to WW2 levels and most of our environmental problems will lower too, many will disappear. Nothing else will ever work.
  But that is very close to happening anyway.

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson
• 
  darthwars
  March 12th, 2025
  

  

  can someone reseed? thank you ^^

  Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse - Dave Goulson

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