Harini BarathBees feel the sting of air pollution more acutely than we do. A 3-year study in India finds that even mildly dirty air could kill 80% of giant Asian honey bees, a key pollinator in South Asia.
Without such bees and other insects, domestic production of fruit, vegetables, nuts, and legumes could be at risk, the team says.“This is an important and timely study,” says Olli Loukola, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Oulu who was not involved with the work.
The findings, he says, are the first to document the impact of air pollution on insects, and they emphasize just how far-ranging the effects of human-caused pollution can be.