---
title: "Scientists Warn “Insect Apocalypse” Could Doom Humanity"
description: "Scientists have published a stark warning: If humankind doesn't manage to save the global bug population, it could spell doom for us all."
date: "2020-02-20"
modified: "2020-02-20"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc.md"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-warn-insect-apocalypse-could-doom-humanity"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "ecology"
  - "extinction"
  - "insects"
  - "the digest"
---

# Scientists Warn “Insect Apocalypse” Could Doom Humanity

![Scientists have published a stark warning: If humankind doesn't manage to save the global bug population, it could spell doom for us all.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/insect-apocalypse-doom-humanity.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Maile377/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Insect Apocalypse

For several years, a crescendo of scientists have sounded alarms over an "[insect apocalypse](<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/magazine/insect-apocalypse.html>)" — a global dying-off of what [may already amount](<https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2020/02/car-splatometer-tests-reveal-huge-decline-in-the-number-of-insects/>) to as much as 80 percent of the global bug population.

Now, in a grim update, 25 scientists around the world have published a stark warning: If humankind doesn't manage to save the global bug population, it could spell doom for human life.

## Extinction Event

In a pair of strongly-worded [open](<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719317823?via%3Dihub#bb0910>) [letters](<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719317793?via%3Dihub#bb0135>) published in the journal *Nature Conversation,* the researchers decried the pollution, habitat destruction, and climate change they believe is causing the mass death of the world's insects.

"Each species represents an unrepeatable part of the history of life," the scientists wrote. "In turn, each species also interacts with others and their environment in distinctive ways, weaving a complex network that sustains other species, including us."

## Bug Hunt

The scientists wrote, poetically, that the "fates of humans and insects are intertwined." In other words, our collective ecological footprint doesn't just threaten our fellow Earthlings — it could also effectively kick the ladder out from under our own position in the ecosystem.

Insects, [per the study](<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719317823?via%3Dihub#bb0910>), provide humans with "\[everything\] from pollination and decomposition, to being resources for new medicines, habitat quality indication" and more. Turns out, it's a bug's world, and humans are just living off of it. The question is: Without their help, for how much longer?

**READ MORE:** [Fates of humans and insects intertwined, warn scientists](<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/20/fates-humans-insects-intertwined-scientists-population-collapse>) \[*The Guardian*\]

**More on insects:** [*University Deletes Press Release Claiming Evidence of Bugs on Mars*](<https://futurism.com/university-deletes-press-release-claiming-mars-bugs.md>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)

## More

- [Climate Change Could Wipe Out One-Third of Parasite Species by 2070](<https://futurism.com/climate-change-could-wipe-out-one-third-of-parasite-species-by-2070.md>)
- [Scientists Build Tiny Camera For Beetles to Carry Around](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/beetle-sized-camera-livestream-bug-life.md>)
- [Scientist Says That Humans Are Almost Certainly Going Extinct](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientist-humans-going-extinct.md>)
- [Scientists Discover Bug That Uses Tool](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-bug-tool.md>)
- [Scientists Say “Ecological Armageddon” is Imminent Due to Massive Insect Deaths](<https://futurism.com/scientists-say-ecological-armageddon-is-imminent-due-to-massive-insect-deaths.md>)
- [3 Reasons Why It’s a Good Idea to Resurrect a Species](<https://futurism.com/reasons-why-resurrect-species.md>)
- [Losing Biodiversity Could Lead to “Extinction Cascades”](<https://futurism.com/losing-biodiversity-extinction-cascades.md>)
- [A Mass Extinction Has Already Started, Scientists Say](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/mass-extinction-started-scientists.md>)