(See note below)
From the Washington Post
Insects around the world are in a crisis, according to a small but growing number of long-term studies showing dramatic declines in invertebrate populations. A new report suggests that the problem is more widespread than scientists realized. Huge numbers of bugs have been lost in a pristine national forest in Puerto Rico, the study found, and the forest’s insect-eating animals have gone missing, too.
In 2014, an international team of biologists estimated that, in the past 35 years, the abundance of invertebrates such as beetles and bees had decreased by 45 percent. In places where long-term insect data are available, mainly in Europe, insect numbers are plummeting. A study last year showed a 76 percent decrease in flying insects in the past few decades in German nature preserves.
The latest report, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that this startling loss of insect abundance extends to the Americas. The study’s authors implicate climate change in the loss of tropical invertebrates….SNIP
NOTE: When I checked on the location of the “pristine national forest” in Puerto Rico, mentioned in the article, I found that it is located approximately 50 miles from Cayey Puerto Rico, the home to the WSR-88 Doppler Radar which is one of the most powerful and advanced weather surveillance doppler radars in the world, transmitting at 750,000 watts. Cayey is a mountain municipality in central Puerto Rico with the radar facility located on the central mountain. Wether or not this has anything to do with the decline in insects of the national forest is an interesting question. Perhaps not so pristine after all…..
Don
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