The spring of 2008 was brutal for Europe’s honeybees. In late April and early May, during the corn-planting season, dismayed beekeepers in Germany’s upper Rhine valley looked on as whole colonies perished. Millions of bees died. France, the Netherlands and Italy reported big losses, but in Germany the incident took on the urgency of a […]
Tag: pesticides
POLL: Should Monsanto’s global weedkiller be banned to prevent the extinction of bees?
The world’s most used weedkiller damages the beneficial bacteria in the guts of honeybees and makes them more prone to deadly infections, new research has found. Previous studies have shown that pesticides such as neonicotinoids cause harm to bees, whose pollination is vital to about three-quarters of all food crops. Glyphosate, manufactured by Monsanto, targets […]
US plan to genetically alter crops via insects feared to be biological war plan
Government-backed researchers in America are aiming to use virus-carrying insects to genetically engineer crops – raising fears the technology could be used for biological weapons. A new article in the journal Science explores the shadowy program funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa). The program aims to disperse infectious, genetically modified viruses […]
POLL: Should Trump’s administration be allowed to lift the ban on pesticides?
The Trump administration has rescinded an Obama-era ban on the use of pesticides linked to declining bee populations and the cultivation of genetically modified crops in dozens of national wildlife refuges where farming is permitted. Environmentalists, who had sued to bring about the two-year-old ban, said on Friday that lifting the restriction poses a grave […]
Cocaine in rivers harming endangered eels, study finds
Tiny amounts of cocaine flushed into rivers cause eels to become not only hyperactive but to suffer from muscle wastage, impaired gills and hormonal changes, a study has found. The impact of traces of cocaine on the physiology of European eels could be hindering their epic migrations through the oceans to reproduce, according to researchers […]
One in 8 Bird Species Is Threatened by Extinction
A new report finds one out of every eight bird species is now facing the threat of extinction. What led to this and, crucially, how can we save our birds? The organization BirdLife International authored the comprehensive analysis, called the 2018 State of the World’s Birds report. The report uses population data from many of […]
Victory! European Union Bans Neonic Pesticides
Environmentalists, health care professionals and food lovers everywhere will be celebrating the European Union’s (EU) decision for an almost complete ban of neonicotinoid (called neonics) pesticides across member states in Europe. The EU had previously restricted use of three neonics from use in 2013, but today’s new ban is more extensive, now completely banning any […]
Europe faces ‘biodiversity oblivion’ after collapse in French birds, experts warn
The “catastrophic” decline in French farmland birds signals a wider biodiversity crisis in Europe which ultimately imperils all humans, leading scientists have told the Guardian. A dramatic fall in farmland birds such as skylarks, whitethroats and ortolan bunting in France was revealed by two studies this week, with the spread of neonicotinoid pesticides – and […]