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Bees are crucial to the ecosystems they live in, as they pollinate various flowers and plants and support all life – and one thing is clear: the changing weather patterns caused by dirty energy usage has not been kind bees.
New research shows that the problems for bees may be even worse than previously thought. Eos reported.
What’s happening?
According to a new study by researchers from Seoul National University, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, the National Institute of Forest Science in South Korea and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany, increased levels of particulate matter in the atmosphere are causing that it becomes more difficult for bees to navigate.
The study, published in the scientific journal Communications Earth & Environment, explained that particulate matter in the lower atmosphere causes changes in the linearly polarized sunlight that insects such as bees depend on.
Although polarized and unpolarized sunlight are indistinguishable to the human eye, bees can use the patterns of polarized light to orient themselves relative to the sun. Unfortunately, as more fine particles fill our atmosphere, that polarized light is scattered and the bees can’t figure out where they’re going.
Why is bee navigation important?
Because bees play such an important role in the health of plant life, any challenge they face could ultimately jeopardize the food security and nutritional value of many crops.
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Bee populations worldwide already are under pressure – by everything from extreme drought to excessive rainfall, but also by parasites and toxic pesticides, and more.
Every plant and animal is a crucial part of the ecosystem in which it exists, and it is worth protecting them all. But bees are especially important, and their disappearance would be incredibly bad news for all life on Earth.
What is being done about particulate matter?
Particulate matter is released into our atmosphere from many sources, including cars, factories and construction sites, as well as from less controlled sources such as forest fires.
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To protect the bees, our atmosphere and human health – which is also extreme adversely affected by particulate matter – we will probably need much stricter laws and regulations on the amount of this pollutant deliberately put in the air by heavily polluting companies.
For now, scientists say more research on this topic is needed to understand the scope of the problem. “We really need to know what exactly are the situations where bees suffer the most from this loss of polarized light in the air,” said James Foster, a neurobiologist at the Universität Konstanz in Germany.
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