Climate Change and Agriculture Together Halve Insect Populations

Insect populations and species diversity are drastically reduced in areas affected by both climate change and agriculture-related habitat destruction, according to a new study.

Written byDan Robitzski

| 2 min read

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In recent years, researchers have reported alarming decreases in both the population numbers and the diversity of insects. These phenomena are often linked to the impacts of global climate change and habitat loss due to industrial agriculture. According to a study published today (April 21) in Nature, climate change and agriculture seem to have a synergistic effect on insect biodiversity, with each magnifying the declines caused by the other.

For the study, researchers from University College London (UCL) analyzed data from more than 750,000 samples of nearly 18,000 insect species that were collected from 6,000 sites around the world over the last 20 years. They compared changes over time in the samples’ reported numbers on insect populations and biodiversity to the average and maximum temperatures as well as land use at each site. Each area was categorized as having primary vegetation or low- or high-intensity agriculture. The researchers found that ...

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Meet the Author

Dan Robitzski
Dan is an award-winning journalist based in Los Angeles who joined The Scientist as a reporter and editor in 2021. Ironically, Dan’s undergraduate degree and brief career in neuroscience inspired him to write about research rather than conduct it, culminating in him earning a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University in 2017. In 2018, an Undark feature Dan and colleagues began at NYU on a questionable drug approval decision at the FDA won first place in the student category of the Association of Health Care Journalists' Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. Now, Dan writes and edits stories on all aspects of the life sciences for the online news desk, and he oversees the “The Literature” and “Modus Operandi” sections of the monthly TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. Read more of his work at danrobitzski.com.
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