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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWe’ve covered the world in pesticides. Is that a problem?
Interesting article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/18/the-world-uses-billions-of-pounds-of-pesticides-each-year-is-that-a-problem/
Thats led many researchers to wonder what sorts of broader impacts all these chemicals are having. Theyve helped feed billions of people, but they may also be causing health problems elsewhere. To sort through all the claims, the latest issue of Science has a fascinating special section devoted to the worlds pesticide use. Here are a few good charts and highlights:
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2) Theres a surprisingly large variation in how farmers in different countries use pesticides:
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3) Chemical pesticides have been quite effective in boosting agricultural yields.
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There are other, lesser-known impacts as well. Australias wheat farmers are now dealing with one of the worst weed infestations in the world an issue caused in part by overuse of herbicides, which led to resistant weeds. And some 300,000 people kill themselves each year by ingesting pesticides, largely in Asia. Thats a whopping one-third of the worlds suicides.
Those are just the effects scientists know about. A notable paper from Heinz-R. Köhler and Rita Triebskorn points out that researchers still dont understand the full impact of many chemicals on broader ecosystems. Although we often know a pesticide′s mode of action in the target species, they write, we still largely do not understand the full impact of unintended side effects on wildlife.
...
2) Theres a surprisingly large variation in how farmers in different countries use pesticides:
...
3) Chemical pesticides have been quite effective in boosting agricultural yields.
...
There are other, lesser-known impacts as well. Australias wheat farmers are now dealing with one of the worst weed infestations in the world an issue caused in part by overuse of herbicides, which led to resistant weeds. And some 300,000 people kill themselves each year by ingesting pesticides, largely in Asia. Thats a whopping one-third of the worlds suicides.
Those are just the effects scientists know about. A notable paper from Heinz-R. Köhler and Rita Triebskorn points out that researchers still dont understand the full impact of many chemicals on broader ecosystems. Although we often know a pesticide′s mode of action in the target species, they write, we still largely do not understand the full impact of unintended side effects on wildlife.
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We’ve covered the world in pesticides. Is that a problem? (Original Post)
Recursion
Aug 2013
OP
BumRushDaShow
(127,312 posts)1. There is also a climatic issue
where in countries that are sub-tropical/tropical, there will always be a larger incidence of "pests" (e.g., insects) than in the temperate climates, where pests generally die over winter (although many have adapted short lifecycles to emerge, grow, breed, and die before winter hits).
last1standing
(11,709 posts)2. Only if we want to survive.
How could the supposedly most intelligent species on Earth think spreading poison on the ground wouldn't have a negative impact?
Maybe Douglas Adams was right. Thanks for all the fish.