Study: America’s Butterflies Are Disappearing at a “Catastrophic” Rate

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00:00Study! America's butterflies are disappearing at a catastrophic rate.

00:05A sweeping new study paints a troubling picture for America's butterflies.

00:11Since 2000, butterfly populations in the United States have dropped by an estimated 22%,

00:16a decline of roughly 1.3% per year.

00:20Researchers analyzed nearly 77,000 survey records across 35 different monitoring programs,

00:26confirming this isn't a blip, but a long-term collapse.

00:31The declines are widespread, but especially pronounced in the Southwest,

00:35where habitat loss, pesticide use, and rising temperatures are driving populations down.

00:41Butterflies that once filled meadows, backyards, and roadside fields

00:45are vanishing from landscapes they've occupied for centuries.

00:49These insects are more than just pretty pollinators.

00:51They serve as indicators of environmental quality

00:55and play critical roles in ecosystems.

00:58Their decline affects entire food webs,

01:01impacting birds, bats, and small mammals that depend on them for nourishment.

01:06Multiple factors like pesticide exposure,

01:09habitat loss, climate stress, invasive plants,

01:13and poor land management drive this collapse.

01:16These overlapping threats make recovery difficult for many species.

01:20Individuals can help by planting native flowers,

01:22avoiding pesticides, reducing lawn space,

01:26supporting pollinator corridors,

01:27and advocating for habitat protection policies.

01:31Butterflies are the canaries in our ecological coal mine.

01:34Their vanishing signals that continued habitat destruction

01:37and environmental degradation

01:39will have far-reaching consequences for biodiversity,

01:43food security, and climate resilience.

01:45The losses won't stop at butterflies,

01:48but will ripple through every layer of life that depends on them,

01:51including ourselves.

01:55They will remain at plantage.

02:02They will remain at entail aquilo ours,

02:03including ourselves.

02:04They won't stop at which risk of theuge being affected by them.

02:07They will remain at the ground of life that Williams cannot eat.

02:08The ones that are being affected by them now,

02:09and they will demise the