If you believe that the earth is round, then you are trying to understand it on a global scale because there are cyclical processes on the earth, infinite roundabout paths that interconnect all life forms.
heavy rain in californiafor example, affecting nutrient flows across landscapes, affecting marine and terrestrial abundance and function, affecting fisheries and crop production, and affecting national food diversity and availability. It is starting to influence how well we work together to protect access to the nutrients we need to live.
deep circular breathing; there is so much to take in;
Even climate fluctuates over time, in natural cycles such as volcanic activity and unnatural cycles such as the burning of fossil fuels, primarily by humans moving on the surface of this sphere in which we live. . (If we work together, we can control one of these processes, but that’s not the point now.)
Albert Einstein is often quoted when referring to one of the most widely recognized relationships with other life forms on this planet (many of the plants we eat require animal pollination). . .”
We may never know if he really said it.Whether that’s true will hopefully never be tested, although the evidence is mounting. suggesting that we are doing our best: Human activity has been linked to a 76% decline in the biomass of flying insects in recent decades, and 40% of insect species are expected to face extinction in the next few years.
From everything we currently know about circulation, one might expect that a decline in pollinators would cause a reduction in food availability, which would reduce human health and life expectancy. previously connected these individual dots. However, new research has put this web of truth in full circulation on a global scale.
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One of the most common shortcuts to healthy living is getting enough of the important nutrients found in fresh foods. A deficiency of this can cause not only scurvy, the classic plague of sailors who stay at sea for long periods of time, but also more modern nutrition. Related diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and many cancers.
Heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes are four of the top eight killers in the United States. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, suggests that our technological species may be doing just fine by simply feeding themselves real food. Finding time to go to the store is not enough. The global agricultural economy is impacted by climate change, drought, chemical pollution, transport, labor practices and lack of pollinators.
so research paper Scientists, published last month in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, put many of these gears together in one analysis, and found that the lack of wild pollinators patrolling fruit, vegetable and nut crops has led to an increase in nutritional value. concluded that the limited regional availability of foods with high Worldwide he is 86,000-691,000. Many of them are likely to be poor residents of richer countries, and the declining availability of imported healthy foods from far-flung regions makes fresh food unaffordable.
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“Doctors and public health professionals around the world are beginning to realize that our hands are joined. Samuel Myersa research scientist focused on planetary health He is a senior author on this paper at the Environmental Center at Harvard University. “While the life support systems we all depend on crumble under the weight of our ecological footprint, we will not be able to effectively do our job of protecting human health well into the future. can not.”
Scientists investigated further and found that between 37,000 and 305,000 people died from unnatural premature deaths, especially from insufficient fruit intake, and 21,000 to 151,000 died from fatal health problems related to inadequate access to nuts. It is estimated that between 31,000 and 251,000 people have lost their lives. Every year from not eating enough vegetables. (Feel free to share that sip with your kids at dinner tonight.)
If those sound like big number ranges, they are. The ‘confidence intervals’ described are what we call the spread of the estimated deaths, which, like the effects of pollinators on our health, are complex, poorly studied, and interrelated. It is an expected measure of scientific uncertainty that arises from trying to model what is related.
Scientific modeling also happens in cycles.
The researchers began by estimating yields based on data from a global network of farms. Matthew SmithEnvironmental health scientist at Harvard University, lead author of the study. We then factored in the gap between what is currently being grown and how many more fruits, vegetables and nuts could be produced if enough pollinators were on hand. Their answer to that question is 25%, meaning that his quarter of potential fruits, vegetables and nuts will not materialize due to poor pollination.
Smith then said he “closed that gap” by calculating how countries’ food production would differ in a pollinator-rich world.
“And that’s when the economic trade model starts,” Smith said. “If every country produces some food in excess, how will the world react to changes in that production? They may export more of that food. There may be enough consumers in the country to eat that food.It’s all these global economic forces that control who eats that food.”
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Finally, scientists used data on regional incidence of specific diseases to examine how changes in fruit, vegetable and nut consumption lead to different health outcomes.
We then went back and tweaked the model a few more times and tweaked the stats knobs based on our understanding of these complex systems.
According to Myers, they were pleased with the results of the many layers of modeling because each estimate they linked was well established on its own, and the 25% pollinator gap was 4. There are about 300 farms on the continent.
“Insects and other animals (as pollinators) account for most of the calories in our diet, and even more nutrients.” Pollinator population decline and human health No one has been able to connect the dots between their impact on the world and that’s what I want to do: piecing together understandings across different disciplines to see how natural systems are important to humans. It is about being able to recognize that there is: health and well-being.”
Sewing in pollinator nutrition
What the Harvard study failed to incorporate into its pollinator-nutrition model was the bees’ own nutritional status.
Nick Ivers, who is pursuing a PhD in integrative biology at the University of Texas at Austin, said: “There are essential lipids, proteins and carbohydrates they need to survive.”
ivers published a paper In this week’s journal Science of the Total Environment, he discusses how bumblebee susceptibility to parasites is linked to landscape features such as mountains and oceans that disrupt foraging flights, and to the extent of genetic diversity. share the results of their research.
“Genetics and susceptibility to parasites are very closely related,” he said. .”
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Urban landscapes, where it is difficult for bees to navigate to find suitable types of flower resources, place more physiological stress on foraging bees. The bee’s immune system becomes unable to fight off pathogens that an infected bee may encounter when visiting a previously touched flower.
But if bees have access to it, there is a natural antidote.
In 2018, another group of researchers found that: Sunflower pollen seemed to have medicinal properties for beesBumblebees and honeybees had sufficient access to cleanse sunflower pollen and were able to control the pathogen load, the researchers concluded.
The effect of bees’ fight against parasites and pathogens on their ability to pollinate is not well understood, says Ivers. But it’s clear from this line of recent research that landscapes that don’t support bee nutrition can spiral into a global system of malnourished humans.
“We know that pathogens can alter the foraging behavior of honeybees, and that can have some impact on the food we can eat.” We have huge agro-ecosystems and little nature in the environment, so bees are forced only to build nests and feed these crops. It’s the balanced nutrition you need to fight off threats, maintain your metabolism, and thrive.”
A ray of hope peeking out from there Rain clouds are hitting the west coast these days A good storm will actually wash the parasites out of the flowers. But as the climate warms and record droughts worsen, it may become harder for foraging bees to avoid pathogens.
“Precipitation will undoubtedly change with climate change, resulting in even greater variability in parasites,” Ivers said.
And for the majority of bee species— Diversity in size, shape, color and pollination behavior — Flooding is a whole new challenge as they grow from eggs to adults in their underground nests during the winter.
“The flowers are definitely washed out in California right now, so the contagion rate is probably low,” Ivers said. I think the number of bees will decrease in the spring because of the amount of rain. ”
Luckily in California may not have A great option for using the flood problem to solve the drought problem. Anyone who understands that nature operates in a series of interconnected cycles will work to address bee nutrition and parasite problems, and keep the agricultural cycle in place to supply fruits, vegetables, and nuts. can do. .
To help bees meet their nutritional needs, plant flowers in uncultivated open spaces where bees can feed and nest undisturbed. Keeping some landscapes wild helps foster healthy bee populations in surrounding areas, Smith suggests. You can keep bees safe by limiting the use of pesticides, especially neonicotinoids, which are known to kill and confuse bees. Also, planning a variety of flowers so that there is always something blooming nearby helps the bees navigate gaps in flower availability.
Ivers pointed out that sunflowers are always a good choice.
Joan Meiners is a climate news and storytelling reporter for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Before she became a journalist, she had a PhD in ecology. follow on Joan’s Twitter @B Cycle or email her [email protected].
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