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Wagamaga OP t1_j076as5 wrote
Inadequate pollination has led to a 3-5% loss of fruit, vegetable, and nut production and an estimated 427,000 excess deaths annually from lost healthy food consumption and associated diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain cancers, according to research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. It is the first study to quantify the human health toll of insufficient wild (animal) pollinators on human health.
“A critical missing piece in the biodiversity discussion has been a lack of direct linkages to human health. This research establishes that loss of pollinators is already impacting health on a scale with other global health risk factors, such as prostate cancer or substance use disorders,” said Samuel Myers, principal research scientist, planetary health, Department of Environmental Health and senior author of the study.
The study will be published December 14, 2022 in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Increasing human pressure on natural systems is causing alarming losses in biodiversity, the topic of the COP 15 UN Biodiversity Conference currently taking place in Montreal. This includes 1-2% annual declines of insect populations, leading some to warn of an impending “insect apocalypse” in the coming decades. Key among insect species are pollinators, which increase yields of three-fourths of crop varieties and are critical to growing healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Changes in land-use, use of harmful pesticides, and advancing climate change threaten wild pollinators, imperiling human supply of healthy foods
mygoditsfullofstars2 t1_j07sivd wrote
I'm halfway through it already!
TheBarslug t1_j07ye8u wrote
Yes but we all know that 87.4% of all percentages are made up.
choochmaster561 t1_j084dit wrote
My nut production has dropped since my ex ended things.
bbhhteqwr t1_j08hhtl wrote
Ban neonicotinoids and curb food waste, this is a highly preventable problem. by virtue of their reproductive strategies, with some help insect populations can rebound relatively quickly.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/neonicotinoid-pesticides-slowly-killing-bees
LateMiddleAge t1_j09b7ll wrote
George Monbiot points out that 196 of the 198 nations recognized by the UN are signatories to the biodiversity convention. Missing: Vatican City and the US.
I'm glad someone is quantifying this.
IsuzuTrooper t1_j09iovp wrote
It should be going up.
jhansonxi t1_j09y82k wrote
Bees are simply going to have to work harder. Install artificial lights and block off their hives until they get a full 18 hours of work done. The Elon hive management method.
On a related note, how does light pollution affect pollinators? Can they utilize longer days or do they encounter biological rest limits?
ILoveLongDogs t1_j0a6dch wrote
How does the lack of pollination directly correlate to the reduced consumption of healthy foods and the rise in disease? There are a hell of a lot of confounding factors for both consumption and disease prevalence.
DUDDITS_SSDD t1_j0aawq6 wrote
My assumption is they are implying less access to healthy produce because of less production.
Orangered t1_j0av1in wrote
Perhaps due to inadequate pollination.
JoshTay t1_j0b4wio wrote
Ironically one of the problems is bees. The hives that are carted from farm to farm for pollination don't neatly stay in the intended crop area and compete for food with native species. Most bee species do not live in colonies or produce honey, but are vital pollinators, servicing many plants that honey bees would ignore . These are also the ones most vulnerable to agri-chemicals.
As the pollination rates fall on plants in-the-wild, that affects the wildlife that depends on foraging. This is not just affecting human nutrition.
dzhastin t1_j0bnm9v wrote
The connection seems kind of dubious to me. Who’s to say those excess deaths were the kinds of people who would eat healthy even if there were a few more apples in the produce section. There’s no shortage of healthy food where I live but I know folks who’ve never touched a green vegetable in their lives.
zoinkability t1_j0c6q6j wrote
Not all plants require insect pollination to produce fruit.
For example, corn and most other grains are wind pollinated so they would not be affected by a loss of insect pollinators.
By contrast, most fruits, nuts, and many vegetables that are scientifically part of the fruiting process (tomatoes, squash, beans, etc.) are insect pollinated.
The idea behind this study is that the insect pollinated plants tend to provide healthier, more nutritious food, loss of pollinators causes those foods to be in shorter supply, and as a result people eat less-healthy diets that rely more on non-insect-pollinated foods like grains.
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