Climate Change : Strategies Of Denial

There have been crestfallen decreases in the population of bees because of pests and of our pesticides. While you may hate bees because of their stingers, they are an enormous part of the pollination process. To be sure, one of the crops that depend on their pollination the most are the almond crops, these crops would go extinct without bees. Without bees, a lot of our prices would sky rocket. They help grow a lot of our food but all they get in response are the disastrous effects of our pesticides. In the interim, the sharp increase of bee-fatal pesticides isn’t getting any better. At the same time, the bees are subjects to the deadly varroa mites and colony collapse disorder. Simultaneously, bees are a huge help agriculture, without them we would be in a huge predicament. There would be as many of diverse crops because when bees pollinate , they cross breed plants at the same time. Then we would have to pollinate most of the crops. In effect, I believe that we should care about bees more. Like Albert Einstein said, “If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live.”

I believe many of our day to day actions threaten the bee population. Things as simple as killing a bee after it stings you. When you were a baby and you bit possibly your mother's finger, did they kill you? I would hope not. We just don’t think about it because we assume there are so many bees in the world it won’t hurt if we just kill one, but when everyone starts thinking that, this is when a problem occurs. We are oblivious to bees and their current risks, and we need to fix that before it’s too late.

The honey bee population is going down, and while most people think it doesn't really matter or just don’t notice it, they should because it is a very big problem. I think the other people should try and change that. If bees die then it will not be good, at all. In this persuasive piece of writing, I will be trying to make people rethink about the bee population, and what it could potentially do to the human race.

Even scientists who think human activity is the main cause of climate change don't deny that natural changes will cause temperature fluctuations on Earth. However, their argument is that in the current cycle of climate change, the impact caused by man is far greater. But there’s no indication that the two sides of the climate change debate will reach any common ground in the near future on what scientific evidence is showing, or what policy decisions should be adopted.

Climate change is the long term shift in global climate patterns attributed mainly to the use of fossil fuels. Many people are aware of this issue, however, there has been an increase in the amount of people who deny climate change. 23 percent of Americans (compared to last year’s 16 percent) believe that climate change is not a problem (Atkin). To conclude that people do not accept cli­mate change because they do not under­stand it or need to be educated about it, is reasonable. However, I believe that it isn’t skepticism driving this denial. Rather, it is the phenomenon of reaffirming one’s identity. Instead of analyzing the evidence, it is intentionally interpreted in such a way as to maintain a pre-existing belief.

Before we started researching this project we didn’t know how important bees are to our environment. In general, we can help solve this problem in our environment by limiting the use of pesticides. Creating regulations and laws limiting and controlling the use of neonicotinoid and coumaphos pesticides would greatly help the bees population. We can also reward farmers for practices that help wild bee populations thrive, such as leaving habitat for bees in their surrounding fields, alternating crops so bees have food all year long, and not using harmful

When I first read through Nathanael Johnson’s article discussing the fall of bee populations in relation to a catastrophic unearthly demise, I kept an open mind. With my personal opinion about the bee crisis stifled, I read on to see if Johnson could aptly convince me of his argument. Unsurprisingly, he failed.

The economic worth of global food production supported by animal pollination is at a whopping $265 billion dollars. Bee’s themselves are responsible for the harvest of crops such as nuts, melons and berries, and plays varying roles in the production of citrus fruits, apples, onions, broccoli, cabbage, sprouts, courgettes, peppers, aubergines, avocados, cucumbers, coconuts, tomatoes and broad beans, as well as coffee and cocoa. ( Yes, that’s right without bee’s you wouldn’t be able to relax to/enjoy the sweet taste of, of a hot cup of chocolate after a long winter day). but with bee’s in consistent decline what does this mean for a growing population. Fewer bee’s would mean most likely result in higher prices for fruits, and vegetables. Less food available for mass consumption. So what can we do? In order to reverse the damage done to our bee populations, it is important that we now as a community make steps to encourage ecologically safe farming practices. That means start grocery shopping regionally, and locally and when the holiday/winter season is over and spring rolls around reduce the everyday use of pesticides, and other stuff while

Brian Sussman and Mark Hendrickson both deny global warming is due to the fact that human are polluting the earth with emissions and other waste products. They both agree that the climate around the globe is changing, but they both say that it is a natural occurrence. Mark Hendrickson and Brian Sussman both made great arguments against manmade global warming, but I am still a little undecided as to which side of the fence I am standing on.

Being used worldwide, neonicontinoids which have a similar chemical structure/properties as nicotine have been used as an insecticide that attacks insect’s nervous systems for many years now. Being infused within the seed of the crop, bees can be in direct contact with the chemical from the pollen of the plant, “…neonicotinoids, or neonics, a nicotine-based pesticide that coats seeds and infuses all parts of a crop as it matures, are "a key factor in the decline of bees” (“Save the bees, save ourselves”). Experts statistically noticed that one hundred percent of corn seeds and sixty percent of soybean seeds in Ontario are treated with this chemical (“Save the bees, save ourselves”). Presence of these toxins in a bee’s system lead to weakness and eventual death themselves, or play a role in multiple disruptions to their bodies. With the chemical in their body the bee’s health begins to deteriorate as scientifically proven, “Exposure to thiamethoxam appears to impair bees’ homing ability, with consequences for colony survival” (“Save the bees, save ourselves”). Neonicotinoids amongst other chemicals have been linked to causing problems in the bee’s homing capabilities as well as introducing the possibility of the deformed wing virus. A neuroethologist at Newcastle University, discovered that the neonic-tained nectar possesses seemingly addictive

Neonicotinoid pesticides are a group of chemicals widely used on farm crops, plants, and trees (1). The concern behind these pesticides is the harmful impact on pollinating insects such as honey bees and bumble bees (1). Neonicotinoids are sprayed onto the plant where they are absorbed by the plant and are transported to all parts of the plant including the pollen (see figure 1) (1). Bees then ingest the pesticide via the pollen; specifically, this is the point where the central nervous system of the bees becomes compromised. A large number of deaths in bees is being used as an argument against the use of neonicotinoids (1).

The decline in a variety of bee populations on a global scale has been obvious since the 1990s and scientists have been struggling with what is actually causing this decline. Current studies show that the use of systemic pesticides, specifically neonicotinoids, has been causing the number of bees to decrease rapidly. There are currently seven different types of neonicotinoids used in the agricultural industry today including imidacloprid, clothianidin, acetamiprid, thiamethoxam, thiacloprid, dinotefuran, and nithiazine. Each of these neonicotinoids are currently being studied and the most commonly used neonicotinoid today is imidacloprid.

"The pace of global warming is accelerating and the scale of the impact is devastating. The time for action is limited - we are approaching a tipping point beyond which the opportunity to reverse the damage of CO2 emissions will disappear."

The use of neonicotinoids (neonics) are harming the bee population all around the world, especially in the United States. The crops the United States use as exports and for food are slowly dwindling with the lack of pollination from bees.

Honey bees, feared by the misinformed and admired by the intelligent, are dying. The interest in bees from many environmentalists is not for a sudden cause, as this issue is not new to the world. Honey bees as a population have been in decline for years but have yet to reach the endangered species list anywhere in the United States except for Hawaii. Many people kill bees that buzz around joyfully, simply because they are afraid of being stung by them; however, a vast majority of bees do not sting and the others do not care. This unfortunate commonality is not even one of the top causes of the worldwide epidemic of honey bees. Although bees are jokingly idolized on the internet in pictures and videos as a result of a popular children’s movie, their population decline is in fact quite serious. Honey bees and other pollinators like birds and insects ensure the pollination of flowering plants and crops all around the globe. Not only do honey bees pollinate plants that produce the foods that humans eat, but they also pollinate trees that produce clean oxygen for Earth. Without honey bees, the world as we know it could soon end, due to carbon dioxide pollution and lack of farmable foods. The population of honeybees and other important pollinator-bee species is dwindling due to a dilemma known to scientists as colony collapse disorder (CCD) because of the use of bee-killing pesticides, known as neonicotinoids, the decrease of flower meadows in the world, and the general increase