The Insect Crisis

This book is terrifying. It's definitely an introduction to the problem of what is happening to insects and how that will affect the planet, and doesn't go far into presenting solutions, but considering how much of the data here was unknown to me, even if I knew the general ‘idea' (Like that bees are dying), I think it's important to read. The information is presented well and clearly, and is not bogged down with anything except the stuff the reader really needs to know. I would recommend this book to mostly everyone.

Near the end of the book, Milman goes into how butterflies are dying off in large numbers for essentially a whole chapter and then ends with something that really affected me. I did the audiobook so I can't quote it exactly, but to paraphrase it- “It's actually incredible that for all the efforts going into saving the butterfly population, butterflies are perhaps the only insect we don't need. They aren't a major food source for other animals, and won't really have a noticeable effect if they were to be driven to extinction. But they are pretty, they are harmless, and most people like them. This recalls to mind Winston Churchill's response in WW2 when it was suggested he cut funding to the arts, he responded “Then what would we be fighting for?”

So yeah, read this book if you want an even better idea of how we're destroying the planet and gain some more anxiety you can do nothing about!