Challenges

March 08, 2017

What would happen if honeybees went extinct?

     Hey. Stella here!! So, I wanted to write a post concerning the consequences and effects that a honeybee extinction would cause. As you most likely know ( I mean I hope you do ), honeybees are in huge trouble. This is mostly because of...once again...drum roll, please.............US HUMANS!!. Yup, humans are at fault once again.

    Firstly, there are many pesticides that can alter a bees state of mind, making it confused and unable to return to the hive, eventually dying. Also...of course, climate change and finally loss of habitat.
     Now I would like to give you some information about the consequences of all this like I mentioned earlier.



     What would happen if honeybees went extinct? 

1. 70% of the crop species that 90% of people in the world consume would no longer be available.


     What this means is that we would most likely not die because of a honeybee extinction except we would have a very boring, non-nutritious variety of food.

2. A variety of plants will begin to die out.


     This is bad, not only for the plants that are dying ( this is really sad because our planet is beautiful and diverse), but also because it would mess up the whole food chain. What happens to the animals that eat those plants? and the animals that eat those animals? A great example is almonds. Almonds would pretty much not exist if honeybees were to go extinct. Almonds are used in many feeds for animals such as cows and chickens. Eventually, this would cause fewer cattle and less dairy, eggs and meat for the human population (although I believe we should all be at least vegetarians).

3. Around 200 billion dollars created due to farming and the bees would go out the window.


     Although I am not a huge fan of the whole idea of money and its value and the economy being the number one priority, this is an issue as well. I believe that changing our beliefs and values for money is something that can change slowly day by day, but if the bees go extinct, drastic changes would occur. Industries would not have time o adapt and change their systems and in the end that would affect people the most. We would have fewer jobs, less food and less money to support our families.

4. No more cotton

     Why is this bad? Cotton is used for 35% of all fibre use, therefore, without cotton, we would have less good quality clothing and fabrics meaning a decrease in our quality of life once again.

     That is all I wanted to say! I hope this has inspired you to care and take action concerning the honeybees' endangerment. For ideas on how to help, consult the previous post written by Julia.

    Thank you for caring and keep making the world a better place!

     Love Stella

Sources: bbc.com, AsapSCIENCE


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