#protect the environment

[theartsynebulawhodoodles]

ꪑꪮꪻꫝꫀ᥅ ꫀꪖ᥅ꪻꫝ ꪖꪀᦔ

᥅ꫀᦓρꫀᥴꪻ ᠻꪮ᥅ ꫝꫀ᥅

{Dream Sans Art}

Don’t destroy the gifts Mother Earth had given us. Take care of the gifts she had give us.

Dream Sans belongs to jokublog, dividers either from creators labeling as like/reblog/free to use or from sister Lucifer

[alpaca-clouds]

Let Us Talk About Insects For Once

I could swear I have talked on this before, but I cannot find it (tumblr search is still busted) and also, it is something important, that sadly a lot of the big science communicators have communicated wrongly - mainly due to trying people to care about it.

You probably have heard this phrase before: Save the bees!

And the image this conjured up for you is this one:

The kinda adorable, fluffy little honey bee, who make nice and tasty honey for us, are being kept all around, and also have a very weird movie about interspecies romance dedicated to them, that communicates this issue wrong once more.

Well, what if I told you, that a) honey bees are just a very tiny minority of the insects responsible for polinating plants in the world, and b) are actually doing right fine, given that they are somewhat domesticated and people make money with them. So yeah, to the shock of absolutely no-one the Bee Movie is horrid pro-honey-bee propaganda.

Instead the animals mainly responsible for polinating our plants are other species of bees - those actually endangered often - who live often more solitarily and do not produce honey either at all or in as high quantities as the honey bee does. Butterflies, moths, wasps, flies, beetles and wasps instead are doing a whole lot of polination work, too.

And yeah, I get that the flies - such as the humble hoverfly - are not as cute or sexy, as the honey bee is, but... we kinda need them fort his whole pollination shit. I mean, by as much propaganda as the Bee Movie it, it was right about one thing: While it would absolutely not affect anyone if all honey bees went on a worldwide strike (good labor coordination though!), if we run out of polinators we might be a bit fucked.

So, honor the beetle and the humble hover fly.

Of course polination is not the only thing that we need insects for.

Yes, I am well aware that most time humans think of insects mostly as annoying pests, but let's be honest: We kinda know that they are somewhat important for the eco-system.

Other jobs that insects take over in the eco-system include, but are not limited to:

Removing waste (such as feces and dead animals)

Providing a food source for all sorts of small critters

Help plants filter water

Loosen the ground by digging through it and making it hence better suited to grow plants

Control one another and other animals, who without them would turn into a danger for humans and/or the eco-system

And that is without helpful jobs insects might actually take over for humans - especially in agrarculture, like hunting other pests or breaking down weeds.

So, you might notice: Even the stupid, digusting kinds of insects are kinda important and fulfill their own specific place in the eco system.

And as anyone who so much as looked at a car in the year 2000 vs today might have noticed... insects are kinda in trouble. Because in the year 2000 your typical car windshield looked like this:

Which is not what it tends to look like today. And while this is anecdote and not scientific data, we of course also have studies that confirm this subjective information.

Scientists have measured the biomass of insects in the environment with certain measures and have found results worthy of concern. Over here in Germany the flying insect biomass has decreased by 75% between 1989 and 2016. Sweden found the same 75% for a similar timeframe. The ground based insects looked better, though their biomass is harder to measure. Depending on the study their biomass has decreased between 18 and 34% over the last 30 years.

An US study found that the overall biomass has decreased by about 34% in the US, the abundance of insects (basically how densely they live and how likely it is for you to encounter insects) however by 61%. And mind you, the same study noticed that while this is an issue the abundance of certain insects - ones that in their current population might become a problem for either humans or the environment - increased.

Several studies also have found that while these decreases were observed, a similar decrease was observed in some species feeding on certain insects - especially birds and certain rodents.

Which lets me speak about the origins of this issue. Why are the insects dying?

I am guessing that both solarpunks and guerilla gardeners might be most familiar with the issue of the lawn and the impervious surfaces.

To make it short: A lot of insects rely either on earth to dig in, or on those plants to polinate - because it is an important food source. They might also rely on certain forms of biological waste (like dead animals and animal feces). And basiclly in a lot of areas we removed all of this. We replaced natural flowers with well maintained lawn, and compacted the ground, if not sealed it all together with concrete. We also remove those dead animals and the animal poo from nature, because it bothers us. And with that we take a lot of insects important elements to live on.

Which means that, yes, ideally a garden should look a lot more like the one beneath than what the HOA (a thing that pretty much is non-existent outside the US) wants you to have.

But again, this is not where it ends. We need more ground that is not sealed and not compacted. We need ground that insects can live and borrow in. Just as we need some animal carcasses to just rot where the animal died - and some animal poo to stink up some areas were humans might live. I am sorry, but there it is.

And yes, I hear you screaming. "But what about the poison?!" And yes, that is also another issue, that definitely is impacting the biomass - though the abundance is more influenced by the last three points.

Basically, yes, a lot of the stuff that farmers use to fight off either weeds or pests are obviously also killing the insects that we technically would love to survive. Because poison tends to not differentiate.

And then there is of course the other issue: Invasive species and climate change.

Germans might be well aware of these fuckers, that kinda look like ladybirds (no, but really, why are they called ladybirds and not ladybugs?) but are not. Or are, but not the right one. Basically they are species of ladybirds that are from other places on the world and somehow ended up over here, where for a variety of reasons they kinda end up killing the local ladybirds. Partly by competing for food sources, partly by being poisonous, and so on.

And of course they are not the only invasive insect species. In fact, the most invasive species tend to be insects and arachnids. And the reason for them living here is two fold.

While most of the time insects and arachnids tend to not be rewilded in places were they are not supposed to be, they do at times hitch rides on humans who travel the world - or in the luggage of said humans.

At times some of those species just happen to do the travelling on their own. For example, I spent the last two years collecting a couple of spiders of the Nosferatu spider species, that just managed to make their way from Southern Europe up here to Germany on their own.

And the reason they manage to survive is obviously climate change. It has gotten too warm and a lot of insects that would not survive here before now are capable of doing so.

And of course some insects that are natural in these parts, can no longer survive because it is too hot for them.

Those issues are obviously not just a thing in Germany. They are a problem basically everywhere.

Which reminds me of one thing. Don't get me wrong. There is some insects that are generally not really beneficial outside of feeding birds maybe. Mosquitos are one of those, which is why there are researchers arguing for erradicating them. Not becuase their bites are annoying, but because they get us - and some animals - all sorts of sicknesses. (Even though we obviously know that their existence once saved earth, lol)

But yeah, insects dying is a problem. And we should do something about it. Not just the sexy honey bee, but also some annoying flies and stuff.

And because y'all managed to read all of this so far, you get a picture of a pretty butterfly.

[defleftist]

One of my maybe unpopular opinions: I think golfing involves an unethical use of land and I don’t like people who golf.

[respect-the-locals]

💙🦈 WORLD SHARK AWARENESS DAY!! 💙🦈

Did you know??

Sharks, one of our planet’s oldest species with fossils dating back over 400 million years, have played a pivotal role in marine ecosystems far longer than we have existed on Earth.

Deemed a keystone species, sharks exert such a profound influence on their habitats that their absence would dramatically alter the entire ecosystem. As apex predators, they stand at the pinnacle of the food chain, crucially maintaining the balance of marine life by regulating prey populations. Sharks control species abundance, distribution, and diversity, which reciprocally affects the health of marine habitats.

Organizations worldwide, like the Shark Conservation Fund, are striving to protect sharks directly. Others, such as Blue Ventures and Saving the Blue, indirectly work towards their protection by safeguarding marine habitats and engaging coastal communities.

[marzzapan]

(⚠️ EYESTRAIN WARNING ⚠️)

DEATH BEFORE DETRANSITION.

BREAK OUR CHAINS FROM FASCISM.

PROTECT OUR COMMUNITIES.

[soil-is-alive]

Topsoil is the foundation of healthy farming and food production, but it’s being lost at alarming rates❗️

Adding compost to the surface of our soils is one way we can increase organic matter (OM) and help rebuild this precious layer. ✨️

But let’s be real: rebuilding topsoil takes time and consistent care. It’s not a quick fix.

Compost enriches the soil, feeds microbes, and improves water retention—laying the groundwork for healthier, more productive land over the long term. 🌳🌻

Every bit of compost we add is a step toward healthier soils and more resilient farms. 🌍

🌞 Let’s work with nature, not against it.

[shamebats]

[ID: "Epic handshake" meme of two muscular arms locked in a firm handshake, one with the caption "Plastic straws are the issue", the other "Synthetic leather is the issue". Where their hands are clamped together it reads "Meat-eaters not wanting to face the fact that the number 1 issue affecting animals is whether or not they get farmed & eaten and if their (and our) habitats get destroyed by fishing, farming and related industries" /end ID]

The best way to save animals (including humans) from harm, protect the environment, reduce pollution, fight back against the climate crisis & reduce plastic use is to drastically decrease the production & consumption of all animal products including fish & leather. The evidence on this is clear, while evidence supporting the notion that non-plastic straws and real hide leather are superior choices with a big enough positive impact to justify the amount of hype surrounding them is not.

"In the oceans, fishing nets, are among the most prevalent form of plastic pollution. One study published in 2018 found that 46% of the 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic estimated to be in the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch came from fishing nets." - BBC: Plastic or paper? The truth about drinking straws

"A significant reduction in meat consumption is essential to mitigate climate change..." - Wikipedia: Environmental impacts of animal agriculture

[lavendercowboyart]

Plant native plants for a healthier ecosystem! 🪱✨

[satasfries]

My boyfriend loves John Egbert so I made him a little something

Damn those microplastics to HELL

[tomwindeknecht]

The Mojave Desert is a beautiful and fragile ecosystem that is home to a variety of plants and animals, including the desert tortoise. Here are a few things we can do to keep it this way:

- Stay on the trails. This helps to protect the plants and animals that live in the desert. - Pack out what you pack in. This includes trash, food scraps, water bottles, etc. - Don't disturb wildlife. This means keeping your distance from animals and not feeding them.

[onbreakreadlastpost]

Keep our First Nation strong on Country

#StopAdani

(More indigenous, environmental, and cultural rights fundraisers in the reblogs)

Adani destroys indigenous land! Stop Adani now!

[lilybug-02]

HAPPY EARTH DAY EVERYONE!!!

💕🌏🌈🌿🍄🦋🦠🐠⛈🌊🎼🌋🏜🌌🧬🇦🇶

Today is the day we celebrate the amazing planetary systems we’ve got right here on Earth and the amazing achievements of human kind, dedicated to preserving, conserving, and saving the world around us.

The world right now may look grim, but coming from one environmentalist to another, there are so many people building systems for a better future. Don't give up hope!

[respect-the-locals]

🐢Daily Sea Turtle Fact:🐢

Leatherback Sea Turtle (lovingly referred to as the watermelon sea turtle 'by me'🫶🏼): The leatherback sea turtle is the largest turtle in the world, measuring up to 6ft in length and weighing between 750 - 1,000lbs. Named for their tough rubbery skin, they are the only species of sea turtle that lack scales and a hard shell, and have existed in their current form since the age of the dinosaurs. They are also accomplished divers with the deepest recorded dive reaching nearly 4,000 feet—deeper than most marine mammals.

[papersoupz]

This is my trashter peice

[soil-is-alive]

🌍 Soil: The Planet’s Biggest Carbon Sink 🌍

Did you know soil holds more carbon than the atmosphere and all plant life combined?

That’s over 2,300 billion tons quietly stored beneath our feet!

By keeping soils healthy through practices like cover cropping and no-till farming, we can preserve this natural carbon sink and support a more sustainable future.

Healthy soil, healthy planet. Let’s dig into solutions! 🌱