4/15/2007

Where, oh where have the bees gone?


Are mobile phones wiping out our bees? - Independent Online Edition > Wildlife

It seems far-fetched to think that the recent discovery that the bee population in the United States has been depleted as much as 60-70% is the result of the dramatic expansion in the usage of cell phones. However, that is precisely what a recent study conducted at Landau University by Dr. Jochen Kuhn has led some scientists to conclude, as cited in the above link from the UK newspaper The Independent.

Albert Einstein famously said that if all the bees were to disappear, "man would have only four years of life left." Considering the current rate at which scientists believe the bees to be mysteriously doing just that, we may get to test Einstein's theory on something other than space and time in the not-to-distant future.

But what if these scientists are correct in their hypothesis? Is there really anything that can be done to curb our dependence on wireless communications technology to provide balance back to the natural order and repopulate the countryside with our pollinating partners? Is it even reasonably conceivable that we as a global society could even come to a concensus about the causes of this heretofore inexplicable phenomenon in time to do anything about it?

Considering the absurd political posturing that has resulted from the recent increase in public exposure of the highly contentious scientific debate surrounding the causes of and solutions to global warming, I have little hope that this issue will ever get the bipartisan attention that a serious solution would require. Even if it did get serious attention from legislators, how could we possibly expect them to have the imagination necessary to address the problem without ripping down the mobile infrastructure that has become as indispensible as an extra appendage in both the developed and developing worlds. All things considered, we all better pray that these scientists are wrong because we are governed by immature opportunists who have little regard for anything other than winning political points, and I don't know about you, but I have trouble surviving life in the big city without my cell phone. God save the bees...

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