So in the US one species of bumblebee is now on the endangered species list.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday on its website that the rusty patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis), once a common sight, is “now balancing precariously on the brink of extinction.” Over the past two decades, the bumblebee’s population has declined 87 percent, according to the announcement.
The news comes just a few months after the first ever bees were declared endangered in the U.S. In September, seven species of Hawaiian bees, including the yellow-faced bee (Hylaeus anthracinus), received protectionunder the Endangered Species Act. (Read “For the First Time, Bees Declared Endangered in the U.S.”)
The threats facing those seven species are similar to the ones that have depleted rusty patched bumblebee populations: loss of habitat, diseases and parasites, pesticides, and climate change. This is a big deal not only for bees but for humans, too—after all, bees pollinate a lot of our food.
Source: National Geographic
This is certainly very scary, while this is only one species bee populations have declined as a whole dramatically and they’re so darn important in our ecosystem. While we try to achieve this human make believe concept of monetary wealth, our planet is dying. Future generations will look back at us and curse us for our short sightedness and stupidity.
