Bees are crucial to the ecosystems in which they live, as they pollinate various flowers and plants, supporting all life — and one thing is clear: The changing weather patterns caused by dirty energy usage have not been kind to bees.
New research indicates that the problems for bees may be even worse than previously thought, Eos reported.
What's happening?
According to a new study from researchers at Seoul National University, 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 fine particulate matter in the atmosphere are making it more difficult for bees to navigate.
The study, published in the scientific journal Communications Earth & Environment, explained that particulate matter in the lower atmosphere is causing changes to linearly polarized sunlight, which insects like bees rely on.
Though polarized and unpolarized sunlight are indistinguishable to the human eye, bees can use the patterns of polarized light to orient themselves in relation to the sun. Unfortunately, as more fine particulate matter fills our atmosphere, that polarized light is scattered, and the bees cannot figure out where they are going.
Why is bee navigation important?
As bees play such an important role in the health of plant life, any challenge they face could eventually threaten food security and the nutritional value of many crops.
Bee populations worldwide are already under pressure — due to everything from extreme drought to excessive rainfall, as well as parasites, toxic pesticides, and more.
Every plant and animal is a crucial part of the ecosystem in which it exists, and every one is worth putting in the effort to protect. But bees are especially important, and their disappearance would be incredibly bad news for all life on Earth.
What's being done about fine particulate matter?
Particulate matter is released into our atmosphere from many sources, including cars, factories, and construction sites, as well as less controlled sources such as wildfires.
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To protect the bees, our atmosphere, and human health — which is also extremely adversely affected by fine particulate matter — we will likely need much stronger laws and regulations around how much of this pollutant can be intentionally put into the air by heavily polluting companies.
For now, scientists say that more research into this topic is necessary to understand the scope of the problem. "We really do have to know what exactly are the situations where bees are suffering the most from this loss of polarized light in the sky," said James Foster, a neurobiologist at Universität Konstanz in Germany.
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