The collapse of the natural world is continuing

 

I hate to be the bearer of honest tidings, but one cannot avoid reality, unless one is in the Trump presidential administration or is a card-carrying member of the Trump cult. OK, there are other reality deniers in other countries, too, but this country has numerous flagrant examples.

But here is the honest tidings. All around us, there are numerous indicators that the natural world is collapsing. It is a slow erosion, but it is happening. It is insidious because it is slow, and magnificent TV series like The Americas show us that there are still bastions of nature holding out against the process of loss, but the loss is as undeniable as it is inexorable.

My age precludes me from thinking I will see beyond the middle of this century, if I make it that far. The worst effects of this process, the endgame, won't happen until later than that. Sadly, though, not by much more.

The reason I said all that said stuff is the following article about a disheartening study.

Butterfly populations are plummeting across the United States

"The researchers behind the study collected and analyzed observations of more than 12 million butterflies from nearly 77,000 surveys by both scientists and community volunteers. Most of the records came from state and local nature clubs, as well as national organizations such as the North American Butterfly Association, which organizes annual surveys in many places.

From coast to coast, these surveys reported observations of 554 species. The total number of butterflies of all those species decreased by 22% from 2000 to 2020, the study reveals. These declines didn’t impact all species equally: About half the species observed suffered population drops of 42% or more. “It was way worse than I thought,” says Cheryl Schultz, a conservation biologist at Washington State University who helped lead the analysis. 

“Just an enormous loss.”

Yes, it is. And let's not forget the current Presidential administration is contending that there is no "harm" to an endangered species if their habitat is destroyed.

Tell it to the Saint Francis' Satyr, once thought to be extinct, that only inhabits wet meadows in North Carolina (and maybe a little bit of Virginia).  (Source:  10 Endangered Butterflies and Their Host Plants)