The Plight Of The Bumble Bee

The Plight of the Bumble Bee With the demand for food constantly increasing, modern farmers have taken on new practices to keep up with demands. Some of these practices include genetic modification of plant species and animals, destroying habitats to make room for farm land, and spraying toxic pesticides to keep insects from consuming crops. Some would argue that these practices are necessary for keeping up with todays food demands, while others may argue that their negative side effects are not worth the bounty of food they help supply. Unfortunately, not many consumers know what it takes to produce the food for their everyday meals. The negative side effects from modern agriculture practices vary in severity. However, research has shown …show more content…
According to a release by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, the rusty patched bumble bee (previously one of the most commonly sighted bee species) is now classified as endangered. According to the release, “The final rule listing the rusty patched bumble bee as endangered appears in the January 11, 2017, Federal Register and takes effect on February 10, 2017.” (Parham et al.) This is helpful information because it is important to understand the timeline of this issue. The source also provides useful information on the reasoning behind the classification of the rusty patched bumble bee as endangered. However, this source does not clarify what specifically qualifies the rusty patched bumble bee to fall under the endangered species list. For this reason, I’ve chosen to explore the definition of endangered. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word endangered can be defined as “being or relating to an endangered species” (“Endangered”) This definition provides some context to the term but still fails to break down what the classification entails. To fully understand what it means when a species is listed as endangered, I turned to an article by National Geographic titled Endangered Species Category and Criteria. According to National Geographic, there are four categories of endangered species, they are …show more content…
Through my research, I have found many useful sources that have given me grounds to answer my main research question “Should we be worried about bees?” The answer being, yes, we should be worried about bees. Although, new environmental problems arise daily and inevitably cause us to forget less recent ones, this issue should be of serious concern to all people. It is apparent that not enough is being done to protect this crucial species. In my next essay, I will build on this essay by diving deeper into the challenges facing bee populations which will hopefully enable me to establish some realistic solutions to these problems at the individual, corporate, and governmental level. I will also present arguments for the various sides of the debate on