Over hundreds of million years of evolution, ants have come up with some pretty smart solutions to problems of agriculture, navigation and architecture. People could learn a thing or two.
Bees that can adapt to the changing climate around us offer hope for more research and better policy and conservation efforts.
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Olga Koppel, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Seventy-two per cent of native bumblebee species in North America are cutting their winter hibernation short by timing their emergence to earlier spring onsets.
Bees look for water on an outdoor tap in Berlin, Germany during a hot spell, June 19, 2022.
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Honey bees, wild and native bees face threats from parasites, pesticides and habitat loss. Shorter winters, more extreme weather and more habitat destruction won’t help.
Spraying from either a ground-based vehicle or an airplane is a common method for applying pesticides.
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Published in 1962, ‘Silent Spring’ called attention to collateral damage from widespread use of synthetic pesticides. Many problems the book anticipated persist today in new forms.
A young farmer spreads fertiliser on young crops in Ethiopia.
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The new State of the Environment report shows Australia’s soil and the life it holds is in poor condition. We need to protect our underground biodiversity.
Monarch butterflies cluster on a eucalyptus tree at Pismo State Beach’s Monarch Butterfly Grove in California.
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The iconic monarch butterfly has been added to the Red List of endangered species, but hasn’t received protection in the US yet. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Cowpea is a popular protein source in West Africa.
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Bed bugs are pretty much universally reviled. But a public health entomologist explains how – while potentially traumatizing to deal with – they aren’t likely to make you sick.
Children participate in a water fight in Lake Ontario in Mississauga, Ontario, during a heat wave on June 5, 2021.
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Cleaning up the Great Lakes was a big job when the US and Canada undertook it in 1972. Today it’s far more challenging.
BPA is an industrial chemical used to make hard, clear plastic known as polycarbonate. It’s also used in the lining of some cans. Many hard plastic bottles no longer contain BPA, and it’s illegal to sell baby bottles with BPA in Canada.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Valérie S. Langlois, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) and Isabelle Plante, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)
There is abundant evidence of the involvement of endocrine disruptors in reproductive dysfunction in several species, including humans.
Planting corn near Dwight, Ill., April 23, 2020. Virtually all corn seeds planted in the U.S. are coated with neonicotinoid insecticides.
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Studies suggest that seeds coated with neonicotinoid insecticides may harm nontarget insects, mammals and birds. In response, states are starting to restrict use of these products.
Mosquito eggs float on the surface of a pond. The insecticide Bti is used to kill mosquito larvae, but it could also harm frogs.
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The insecticide Bti kills target organisms like mosquitoes and blackflies, but new research shows it may also have negative effects on non-target species like frogs.
Soybean plants on an Arkansas farm. Those at left show signs of damage from dicamba; others at right were planted later in the season.
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Farmers are stuck in a chemical war against weeds, which have developed resistance to many widely used herbicides. Seed companies’ answer – using more varied herbicides – is causing new problems.
An expert on organic agriculture argues that the US is missing an economic and environmental opportunity by not working to scale up organic production.