Healthy soil contains billions of tiny microorganisms that help plants to thrive and our food supply to remain abundant. A paper, published in Nature Communications, used large-scale data comparisons of soil from 78 global drylands and from 179 locations across Scotland to study diversity of soil microbiota. The researchers found that diversity is absolutely imperative for supporting ecosystems.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made an announcement just a few months ago concerning the loss of honeybees that will undoubtedly make environmentalists say “I told you so,” and for good reason. The agency says that a pesticide widely sprayed on grains, vegetables, fruit, and other crops across the United States is threatening honeybees. [3]
The announcement could bolster efforts to have imidacloprid, a nicotine-imitating chemical, banned nationwide.
In light of the potential dangers a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids have on bee populations, pest-control company Ortho recently announced that it will be transitioning away from the chemicals in order to protect the world’s pollinators. Ortho plans to phase out the use of neonicotinoids by 2021 in 8 of its pesticide products.
Maryland has nearly become the first state in the U.S. to ban the sale of neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides which are a major contributor to the decline of honeybees.
Two bills previously cleared the Maryland State Senate and Maryland House of Delegates. The bills’ similarities were to likely to result in them being combined into a single piece of legislation to be sent to Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s desk, where it could be signed into law.
Beekeepers have instinctively known this all along, but a new landmark study has linked insecticide dust to damaged beehives. This is a sad but welcome confirmation of what beekeepers in Minnesota have been trying to tell the world for years now.
With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and support from selected journalists and industry-supported academics, Cornell University is allegedly propping up GM industry myths for biotech and agribusiness companies.
Cornell is an Ivy League school known throughout the world as one of the most impressive academic institutions, but it seems to have abandoned scientific objectivity for the promise of a paycheck.
It’s no wonder that Monsanto is trying to fight “rumors” that its pesticide products are causing serious health damage to unborn children and to people of all ages. Glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, has been named the most widely used herbicide in history.
Another city in the United States is taking necessary measures to protect our pollinating insects – which are essential for the growth of many crops, and a healthy food supply overall. St. Paul, Minnesota recently approved a resolution which is meant to encourage the township and citizens to limit the use of harmful pesticides and add more native plants in landscaping.
The lawsuit claims the EPA is neglectfully responsible for widespread employment of bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides.
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“It’s clear that pollinators are in trouble.”
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