科学家揭示光污染导致“昆虫末日”

科学家揭示光污染导致“昆虫末日”

Insects, which pollinate flowers and break down waste, are crucial.

昆虫为花朵授粉并分解废物，是至关重要的。

Although researchers have warned before about the negative effects of climate change and habitat loss, they are now blaming a new culprit for the worldwide decline of bugs — light pollution.

尽管研究人员以前曾就气候变化和栖息地丧失的负面影响发出过警告，但现在他们将全球昆虫数量下降归咎于一个新的罪魁祸首——光污染。

A group of entomologists reviewed about 200 studies and research papers to examine how light pollution is contributing to what’s been called the “insect apocalypse.” Their findings were published last week in Biological Conservation.

一组昆虫学家回顾了约200项研究和研究论文，以研究光污染是如何导致所谓的“昆虫启示录”的。他们的发现发表在上周的《生物保护》杂志上。

A previous study in April in the same journal looked at agriculture and habitat destruction as series threats to insects, claiming that more than 40 percent of insect species face potential extinction in the coming decades.

今年4月发表在同一份期刊上的一项研究将农业和栖息地的破坏视为对昆虫的一系列威胁，称在未来几十年里，超过40%的昆虫物种面临灭绝的危险。

“It’s frustrating,” author Brett Seymoure, a postdoctoral fellow at the Living Earth Collaborative at St. Louis’ Washington University, told Gizmodo. “We’re saying, look, light pollution is also a huge driver, especially with nocturnal insects.”

“这很令人沮丧，”作者Brett Seymoure告诉Gizmodo，他是圣路易斯华盛顿大学地球生命研究所的博士后。“我们说，看，光污染也是一个巨大的驱动因素，尤其是夜间活动的昆虫。”

Seymoure said a number of different fixes could address the problem, including light timers, covers to lessen light pollution and bulbs that don’t mimic daytime light.

Seymoure说，一些不同的解决方案可以解决这个问题，包括灯光定时器，减少光污染的盖子和不模拟白天光线的灯泡。

Still, the reseachers’ work reportedly notes that lights can impact how bug species move, search for food, reproduce, grow and hide from predators.

尽管如此，据报道，研究人员的工作指出，光线可以影响昆虫的移动、寻找食物、繁殖、生长和躲避捕食者。

“If we lose these insects, you’re also gone,” Seymoure said. “It’s over.”

“如果我们失去了这些昆虫，你也就完了，”Seymoure说。“这是结束了。”

The scientist said he plans to examine light pollution’s impact on butterflies next.

这位科学家说，他下一步计划研究光污染对蝴蝶的影响。