
Fireflies facing extinction due to habitat loss, pesticides and artificial light - herodotus
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/03/world/fireflies-extinction-risk-scn/index.html
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sosuke
I haven't explored my feelings on it but this lines up with my limited
observations and makes me incredibly sad.

I keep hoping they are just in a cycle that lasts a few years and I'll see
them pop up again soon.

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uniacid
Most likely not, we're in the midst of one of the vast insect extinction
events in man's history sadly.

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ars
I've been watching fireflies on my street for decades, and I have seen no
decline - they show up at the same time of year, in the same numbers.

I was worried about what street lighting was doing to them (since I mainly saw
them on the street), until one day I happened to be walking in a backyard with
some huge trees, and saw more fireflies in those trees than I've ever seen
before.

The trees were in a dark backyard and the fireflies seemed to be doing
extremely well - the trees were just full of them.

And since fireflies eat sap from tree roots, I think human lighting activities
don't really harm them too much.

My takeway: If you want to see how fireflies are doing, don't just walk down
the street and look, make a point of looking in backyards, and unbuilt areas.

Suburbs and rural areas probably host large numbers of them. (But urban areas
probably have few if any.)

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tsherr
And this is another reason why we need half (and possibly less than half) the
number of humans we have on earth.

Yes, we can carry more humans, but the cost is way too high.

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goatlover
It's a little late for that.

