http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/wild- ... -1.2543782

To me, this is a much more pressing concern than `climate change` and it should be addressed immediately. A bee die off would have immediate and devestating repercussions for the planet

   

Honey bees, and the looming depletion of phosphates. That'll be far worse than climate change.

   

Climate change is the Great Exacerbator. On top of regular challenges bees--and all animals including humans--have to pay the climate adaptation surcharge.

I'm more worried about the fish myself.

   

If the bees wore condoms this kind of thing wouldn't happen.

   

Overfishing is certainly worrying, but given the huge range of plants that bees pollinate, it could be far more disasterous IMHO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cr ... ed_by_bees

Say bye bye to melons, chocolate, lots of berries and types of nuts.

It wasn't very long ago when protein was a treat in most people's diets and I think we could go back to that paradigm if necessary - however much people wouldn't like it.

However, without the fruits and veggies (and other plants bees pollinate), we and many other species will be in far more trouble than if we can't have fish & chips once a week.

   

Growing plants need nitrates and phosphates to grow. A smart German chemist (also responsible for mustard and phosgene gas) developed a way to make nitrates from the nitrogen in the air, but so far our supply of phosphates is limited.

Every single cell in your body contains phosphorus, as it's a building block of DNA. Right now, we just flush all out non-renewable phosphates down the toilet and out to sea, where they cause great 'dead zones' devoid of life.

Without the bees, we're screwed. And once we run out of phosphates, we also won't be able to have the same productivity on our farms that we see right now.