Electric lights kill insects

According to the Guardian newspaper on November 22, according to the most comprehensive assessment from the available scientific evidence, light pollution is an important factor that causes the insects to decline sharply but is now a factor. "ignored".

The researchers found that artificial night light could affect every aspect of insect life , causing them to decline in numbers. Specifically, the light entices the caterpillars to cause them to die when they hit the light bulb, insects are also more likely to kill mice and toads during the night because of the light. In addition, the light also makes fireflies unable to mate because it obscures their mating signals.

Night lights cause insects to die in mass - (Image: Guardian)

"We strongly believe that artificial light at night - combined with habitat loss, chemical pollution, invasive species and climate change - is driving insect decline , " The scientists came to a conclusion after evaluating more than 150 individual studies. "We assert here that artificial light at night is another important thing - but often overlooked - that brings about the apocalypse of insects."

Unlike other types of pollution, light pollution can be prevented relatively easily by turning off unnecessary lights and using appropriate colored lights. "Such ways can significantly reduce insect losses immediately," the team recommends.

Brett Seymoure, a behavioral ecologist at Washington University in St. Louis and lead author of the study, said: " Artificial light at night is a human-induced light coming from streetlights. "It can affect insects in almost every conceivable part of their lives."

The insect population collapse has been reported in Germany and Puerto Rico, and the first global scientific review, published in February 2019, said widespread depletion threatens to cause a catastrophic collapse. Fierce of the natural ecosystem.

The latest assessment said: "Insects around the world are rapidly declining. Their absence will have devastating consequences for life on this planet."

According to statistics, up to 2 million species of insects exist on Earth, the majority of which is currently unknown to many. About half of all insects are nocturnal. However, artificial light also negatively affects insects that live in the daytime.