In January of this year, it was reported that the American Bumble Bee had gone completely extinct in Maine. This means that Maine has joined 7 other states, including New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and other northeastern states in being states that have completely lost the American Bumblebee-- perhaps for good.
How did we get here? And, more importantly, how can we fix this? Education is a great start.
How much do you think you know about bees? Think you know more than University of Maine students? Click the image below to check out EndangeredMaine's very first YouTube video and find out!
It is abundantly clear from this video that people are in dire need of education on the impact of bees on the environment, as well as the dangers posed from the casual killing of bees. Humans and bees are interdependant on eachother, meaning that if they go extinct, the best case scenario leads us to having an extremely limited diet and options for nutrition, drastically impacting our overall health.
The worst case scenario, of course, ending with the death of our species.
However, is this really all we can do to prevent the extinction of bees? Just educate ourselves and talk ourselves into circles about the importance of bees while their numbers continue to dwindle around us? Will the death of our species be paired with a voiceover discussing how "we should have never allowed this to happen," and "how could the everyday human be so careless?"
No.
The everyday human can do their best to reduce their carbon footprint, but ultimately they can do little when large companies are doing so much. "The largest investor-owned producers have had an outsize effect on emissions. The top 20 produced fuels that comprised 29.5 percent of emissions, while the top 10 account for 15.8 percent," say ClimateAccountability.Org, rersearchers who have worked to compile the data shown in the GIF below calling out just who is responsible for the largest amount of carbon emissions. "Half the emissions traced to the ninety “carbon majors” have occurred since 1986, demonstrating the increasing speed with which fossil fuels are being burned," they go on to state.
So, what can we do? Here at EndangeredMaine, the last thing we want is for people to feel hopless and powerless to stop the continued destruction of the planet. Throughout the entire academic semester, we have worked to enlighten people on the dangers of the climate crisis, but never put too much stress on individuals to "solve" it on their own. To learn more about the culimination of this project, and what we can truly do to make a measurable impact on our environment, check out our semester finale article "An Ode to the Saltmarsh Sparrow: How To Fight Climate Change."