Bugs hitting the front windshield in extraordinary numbers.
This is a sad one once you notice it. The outdoors feel emptier
what happened to the bugs?
We managed to kill off a third of the entire bug population during the last 25 years or so.
Huh, I think they all flew to Mexico, I did a road trip from Mexico to Austin TX recently and I do recall having not many bugs in my windshield in the USA… But back home to Mexico they all started to appear LMAO.
More of a the natural habitat of insects are still thriving in Mexico and the habitat being wiped elsewhere.
It’s two things, one personal vehicles are designed to bend air around them rather than slice through or just brute force through air resistance. This means that more bugs are pushed out of the way with newer vehicles now, compared to older vehicles which just had the bug hit the windshield. The second and much more impactful reason is because the insect population has dropped significantly in the last 25 years.
the insect population has dropped significantly in the last 25 years.
Why has that happened?
Pesticides
Climate change
Less flowers
deleted by creator
Accelerating climate change and an increase in consumer car culture (more cars on road to kill bugs = less bugs)
I just drove through Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas and confirmed there are still enough bugs out there to make you use a squeegee when you fill up for gas. But I remember when I was younger having to stop just to clean the windshield or else you wouldn’t be able to see.
Fireflies/Lightning bugs. I remember there were so many in backyards in the summer, even in the suburbs.
Then they just kinda went away. Feel like I’m lucky if I even see a few a year.
Car design change? I’d assume that more aerodynamic cars airflow that sweeps more bugs away rather than smacking them into the glass. I can assure you that they still hit motorcycle visors.
I mean, I see way less bugs when outside even a decade ago.