Irreplaceable pollinators: Save the bees

Earlier this week is was reported that severe, back-to-back bleaching has affected two-thirds of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. 

The findings have caused alarm as the proximity of the 2016 and 2017 bleaching is unprecedented and gives damaged coral little chance to recover. A world treasure is being lost in front of our eyes.

This destruction, despite what some who should know better suggest, is caused by global warming. It is provoked by rising sea surface temperatures and another warning about how we cannot continue to mistreat our precious planet.

Another canary-in-the-mine warning we have ignored, though not about climate change this time, is the huge decline in bees, an essential species for our survival. We depend on bees to pollinate crops.

Without bees it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to feed the world’s spiralling population. It is hard to think of an example of human stupidity more shocking than the idea that the interests of chemical giants and intensive agriculture should be allowed threaten the very survival of bees and in turn, ours too.