Important invertebrate pollinator species, like the honeybee and butterfly, are under a threat of extinction due to a number of environmental pressures, many of them man-made, a new study found.
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services released a detailed assessment regarding pollinators Friday during its fourth plenary in Malaysia. Results come from a two-year, United Nations-sponsored study conducted by the panel.
The threat against such animals also threatens the health of the world's agricultural food supply, which includes fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts and oils. A slowdown in production of these important nutrition sources may have detrimental effects on the population, including increased malnutrition and the loss of up to $577 billion globally, the IPBES warned.
"Pollinators are important contributors to world food production and nutritional security," the assessment's co-chair, Vera Lucia Imperatriz-Fonseca, said in a statement. "Their health is directly linked to our own well-being."
An enormous marine heatwave off the US west coast is ringing alarm bells among ocean and...
Authorities in Orange county, California have ordered the evacuation of 40,000 people over concerns about a...
More than 17,000 people were under evacuation orders in southern California on Tuesday as a wildfire...
