The Ripple Effect: How Would Bee Extinction Impact Food Security?
Bees are termed significant pollinators that fertilize plants. Some assert bees are dreaded, due to their sting and the allergic reactions caused due to their venom. While some suggest the usage of wasp spray for safekeeping. That’s fine!!
But what if these endangered species get totally extinct? What would the future be then? Any grave impact on the environment. How would the crops be fertilized? Any alternative it can leave behind. So many questions, with just a lone way out.
That imagination of yours has just begun. Basically, we would lose all that our environment incorporates. Plants pollinated by bees, insects dependent on these plants, animals and all closely related to this food chain. And specifically, honey appetizes your dish. Who knows, the fruits and vegetables you consider a significant share of your diet were once fertilized by these pollinators. It is an impact that stands far beyond what you expect, shrinking the global food supply. Humans will face a massive crisis to sustain, and harsh food shortages might soon be threatened world security.
There are myriad communities entirely dependent on honey harvesting, their major source of income. If somehow the extinction transforms into an echt, imagine the grief they might attain.
This planet has over 800 wild bee species within just Europe. Furthermore, seven are already classified as ‘critically endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 46 — endangered, 24 — vulnerable, while 101 are referred to in the category of nearly threatened species.
Bees pollinate half of the crops, that humans and insects are directly or indirectly contingent upon. Butterflies, bumblebees, and honeybees look on the other division. Will this partake be the same if one is defunct? No food chain is the transmission of energy and every species plays a significant role in the process. That is how ecology is balanced. Each and every genus of this planet is a tectonic shift. And when I assert each, it denotes even moss species.
For instance, the recent moss species — Bryum bharatiensis, discovered for the first time by Indian scientists in Antarctica is entirely dependent on nitrogen. Now, what’s interesting, the moss species is dependent on Penguins’ poop, consisting of nitrogen. Now, just consider the grave concern it depicts. The future extinction of penguins due to the declining icy sheets of Antarctica might see a rough extinction of this species too. Deforestation or loss of green cover is yet another threat to its existence.
We, humans, are so self-concerned — issues related to individual survival attain much immersion to us. This moss species are entirely disparate, a gradual one has been considered. But the rate at which bee colonies are declining mounts immediate concern. The extinction of bees is a threat to generations and might alter the natural systems and food webs.
