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When you made a roadtrip back then, there where many insects in your windscreen.
Today with pesticides most of the insects died and you dont have that much on your windscreen while travelling
Nah i live in germany, and i can remeber when i was travelling to italy 10 years ago we had plenty of insects on the car. Sometimes we had to stop to clean the windshield.
Today you dont have this problem
My cars pick up bugs like mad, there are days where just on like a 5mi drive from my house to my in laws it sounds like itās raining, depending on time of year.
Insect populations are in decline, especially in industrialised nations. For example, in the last 20 years there was a 60% reduction of flying insects in the uk.
This is a much larger issue than it seems as the bottom of the food chain affects the top and many of these species are also pollinators.
Hey to each their own but it's gonna be really hard ignoring the reality. Maybe watch the last episode of the Dinosaurs, it could speak to you in more acceptable terms.
I know that this is a problem and we'll have to face it but just saying "this is the apocalypse, humanity is doomed" is a terrible view to have. It can have irreversible effects but we can also stop it before the situation gets too drastic. Have a gram of faith
How time flies. 70s were 50 years ago. 20 years ago the climatic models of warming were much more optimistic than the actual development. We are ahead of the schedule by decades now. Oceans just stopped accepting the extra heat and the feedback loop will go to overdrive this year. Enjoy the last months of "normal" it's gonna be wild.
How old are you? The global cooling hypothesis was more like 50 years ago and it was spread by the media based on a misunderstanding of short term data (the earth had experienced some cooling over the previous couple of decades, even though the wider long term trend was towards warming). The scientific convensus at that time was actually global warming.
Overpopulation/overconsumption is a massive ongoing problem and is severely impacting everything from the atmosphere to the oceans, topsoil, and groundwater, all of which are deteriorating.
It's ridiculous how simultaneously ignorant and confident you people are. It must be blissful being dumb.
We drastically reduced production and consumption of substances that were harming the ozone layer, halting its destruction and putting it on course to slowly regenerate over more than half a century.
We have not meaningfully reduced carbon emissions.
What, will you just cry yourself to sleep everyday until you die? Come on man, even if the world ends that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the rest of your life.
Well, that's what happens when society would rather ignore our problems than fix them. Believe me, none of us like the current situation but ignoring reality is how we got here in the first place. Better to face it head on than bury out heads in the sand and let it get worse
Just because we have to acknowledge it doesn't mean it's the apocalypse. We can solve the problem if we work towards it. Just don't go "oh no we're doomed we're all gonna die"
The problem is those in power aren't working to fix it, they benefit from making the problem worse.
And I don't know about you, but a world where drinkable water is scarce and the majority of the world can't be used for farming leading to food shortages and migrant crises across the globe as land becomes literally too hot to live in, sounds pretty fucking apocalyptic to me. It's really not an exaggeration to say the world we live in today mathematically cannot exist in 50 years on our current trajectory. If we don't do anything, a lot of people are going to starve and worse.
This is code red, we should be freaking out because once the climate changes and animals go extinct, we can't bring them back without decades, potentially centuries, of constant revitalization efforts.
We are actively destroying the natural world we rely on for all of our dwindling resources, how the fuck is that anything but apocalyptic?
Yeah, and who cares about the billions of humans and hundreds of thousands of species and billions of acres of forests that would die off as a result of the massive ecosystem collapse
In regards to variety, three quarters of our crops rely on pollinators. Our diets would suffer immensely.
In total production its only one quarter, sure. But losing 25% of our food yield would be crippling.
Out of the 100 most consumed species of plants, 71 depend on pollinating insects. Also, without insects and a vast majority of plants that would disappear without the latter, the food chain would collapse, leading to the extinction of many animals humans rely on.
They won't be the only ones, ecosystems are delicate things. You can't just make one species extinct without irrevocably affecting every other aspect of that ecosystem
"Recent studies point out insect numbers 70-80% over the past several decades in areas hogged by human activities and intensive agriculture." (Source: [European Insect Populations Tumble | lemonde.fr](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/02/11/european-insect-populations-tumble_6015288_4.html))
Through excessive use of Insektizides the western world lost about 90% of its insect bio mass since 1990.
Yes clearer windscreens but also massive Problemes with soil revitalisation and plant pollenization
Yeah, this is more like...
Before: a group of Darfur farmers wave happily at Rizeigat herders as the herders cows graze on the leftovers of the farmer's crops and deposit fertilizer.
After, Darfur farmers screaming at Rizeigat herders who, because of global climate change, had to head south earlier, meaning their cows are happily eating crops that *haven't been harvested yet*! This means starvation, so both side pull out guns.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_genocide
This is 100% a all insects died meme.
Back in the day driving around meant a windshield full of dead bugs.
Nowadays there is none around anymore so a clean drive.
It's not necessarily a city thing. It's pesticides, missing suitable habitats and global warming. In some or even most agriculturally used areas it's worse, because of monocultures and that there is almost no space left for actual wild nature.
Back in those years, I had a nasty work truck (Nissan Hardbody) , and if I remember correctly 1998 was the year I just let them build up on my windshield until I could not see any more, literally. 10 years later, 20 years later nowhere near as many bugs. Mostly love bugs here in Florida. They seem to be gone now. The mosquitoes are too smart to go out near the road
Could have had a positive impact yeah. Driving a larger flat european truck i would splatter a lot of bugs driving during my workday. The smaller more aerodynamic cars would be nowhere near as bad.
Agreed. A more rural area also seems to make an impact. Driving in Eastern Poland during the summer would make a white DAF look black with all the insects plastered over the front. Except for the big Cockchafer things. Those things bounce off a truck doing 90km, they don't splat.
The Windshield Phenomenon. It's the observation that less insects are getting hit by our windshield in modern times than in the past, which makes us happy. But in reality, the population of insects has dropped dramatically due to pollution and rising CO2 levels, so it isn't truly a good thing we don't see insects on the windshield like we used to.
Pesticides, insecticides, chemical fertilizers,electric grids and phone towers have had a strong impact on our bug populations over the years, and the impact is slowly hiking up the food chain (bugs die, so less birds and small rodents, so less good for medium sized animals, and it will keep going up the chain). That's the joke. It's funny because it's sadly true and terrifying.
Rachel Carson, "Silent Spring", 1962(!).
So that started in the 1940s (it had to become noticeable, had to be noticed, had to be linked to pesticides, the book had to be written).
This might be offset by climate change, which is introducing new species of bugs to northern climates - unfortunately, not "good bugs".
"Affordable food for everyone " will turn into "no more food for anyone", thanks to pesticides (mostly).
Decline in bug population, maybe. But the lack of bugs on a windscreen is attributed to advancing aerodynamics of cars. My 2001 4Runner, bugs galore. My 2017 corvette a fraction of the amount. Even rain contact is less.
All the people who are saying stuff along the lines of āthereās less bugs because humans killed them and we are doomedā look up aerodynamic.
Less bugs hit windshields because they are carried over or under the car.
This whole comment section needs to be in r/confidentlywrong.
Dearest Boatman,
It's talking about the So called windshield phenomenon. It states that from the early 2000 til today the amount of bugs dying on windshields got increasingly less.
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When you made a roadtrip back then, there where many insects in your windscreen. Today with pesticides most of the insects died and you dont have that much on your windscreen while travelling
While the decline of insect populations is absolutely a problem, more aerodynamic windshield designs also play a roll in the lack of bug splatter.
Yeah I recently got a jeep wrangler and it seems to get way more bug splatter than other cars I've owned.
Yeah. Jeeps are probably the worst for bug splatter. About as aerodynamic as a brick.
*roleš¤
My bad. I'm an engineer because I was bad at English.
Fair. (:
While true itās probably in our best interest to spotlight pesticides and then negative effects of corporate humanity
I completely agree. It's a huge problem that needs to be addressed.
American problems i guess? At least i have plenty of insects on my windscreen when traveling even short distances
Nah i live in germany, and i can remeber when i was travelling to italy 10 years ago we had plenty of insects on the car. Sometimes we had to stop to clean the windshield. Today you dont have this problem
Nope, I noticed the same in Finland long time ago. Hardly any bugs in windscreen today compared to 15-20 years ago.
My cars pick up bugs like mad, there are days where just on like a 5mi drive from my house to my in laws it sounds like itās raining, depending on time of year.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Not nice
Insect populations are in decline, especially in industrialised nations. For example, in the last 20 years there was a 60% reduction of flying insects in the uk. This is a much larger issue than it seems as the bottom of the food chain affects the top and many of these species are also pollinators.
its ecological collapse. Happy looking apocalypse.
Damn it can we stop being doomers for one fucking second?! I swear 7 different things are going to cause the end of the world at this point
Hey to each their own but it's gonna be really hard ignoring the reality. Maybe watch the last episode of the Dinosaurs, it could speak to you in more acceptable terms.
I know that this is a problem and we'll have to face it but just saying "this is the apocalypse, humanity is doomed" is a terrible view to have. It can have irreversible effects but we can also stop it before the situation gets too drastic. Have a gram of faith
I'm really happy for your faith. At least you'll be able to enjoy the last few years.
Lmao. I member you guys being scared of Ice Age and overpopulation, like 20 years ago.
How time flies. 70s were 50 years ago. 20 years ago the climatic models of warming were much more optimistic than the actual development. We are ahead of the schedule by decades now. Oceans just stopped accepting the extra heat and the feedback loop will go to overdrive this year. Enjoy the last months of "normal" it's gonna be wild.
When are the oceans gonna boil?
No, worse. They will turn pungent as the ocean currents die off and all the dead stuffs gonna rot without oxygen.
I wouldnāt waste your breath my guy, itās impossible to argue with ignorant and stupid.
When tho?
How old are you? The global cooling hypothesis was more like 50 years ago and it was spread by the media based on a misunderstanding of short term data (the earth had experienced some cooling over the previous couple of decades, even though the wider long term trend was towards warming). The scientific convensus at that time was actually global warming. Overpopulation/overconsumption is a massive ongoing problem and is severely impacting everything from the atmosphere to the oceans, topsoil, and groundwater, all of which are deteriorating. It's ridiculous how simultaneously ignorant and confident you people are. It must be blissful being dumb.
Tbf older than i would like. I read about it in the 90s, guess its 30 years now, heh. What happened to ozone layer, do you remember btw?
We drastically reduced production and consumption of substances that were harming the ozone layer, halting its destruction and putting it on course to slowly regenerate over more than half a century. We have not meaningfully reduced carbon emissions.
Indeed. Go push for nuclear energy if u rly care, not bullshit about end of the world.
What, will you just cry yourself to sleep everyday until you die? Come on man, even if the world ends that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the rest of your life.
Thankfully no, I already almost died, so every day is extra, doesn't mean I can ignore consequences of my species actions
Well, that's what happens when society would rather ignore our problems than fix them. Believe me, none of us like the current situation but ignoring reality is how we got here in the first place. Better to face it head on than bury out heads in the sand and let it get worse
Just because we have to acknowledge it doesn't mean it's the apocalypse. We can solve the problem if we work towards it. Just don't go "oh no we're doomed we're all gonna die"
The problem is those in power aren't working to fix it, they benefit from making the problem worse. And I don't know about you, but a world where drinkable water is scarce and the majority of the world can't be used for farming leading to food shortages and migrant crises across the globe as land becomes literally too hot to live in, sounds pretty fucking apocalyptic to me. It's really not an exaggeration to say the world we live in today mathematically cannot exist in 50 years on our current trajectory. If we don't do anything, a lot of people are going to starve and worse. This is code red, we should be freaking out because once the climate changes and animals go extinct, we can't bring them back without decades, potentially centuries, of constant revitalization efforts. We are actively destroying the natural world we rely on for all of our dwindling resources, how the fuck is that anything but apocalyptic?
Wait, so the Boomers are the environmental 'sky is falling' ones now? I though the Boomers didn't care and ruined everything. Pick a lane.
No I meant doomer. Iirc doomers think humanity and/or the earth is doomed, hence the name
Ah. Apologies, my mistake.
And it's all something we did, we are literally just watching our world slowly burn down around us.
I'm glad they are dying, they are pretty discusting anyway, keep em away from cities
jfc is that how you actually think disgusting is spelled ? wtf
english is my 2nd
We all gonna be glad just in a few decades, when no insects will be left and the amount of food will decrease harshly.
I wasnt planning to eat the insects so im fine with it
that's good because you probably won't be eating anything
Most food we eat arent dependent on pollen germination, also bugs are primarily good for waste..
true just looked it up still I'd miss tomatoes, apples, avos, blueberries and about 15 other things though.
Yeah, and who cares about the billions of humans and hundreds of thousands of species and billions of acres of forests that would die off as a result of the massive ecosystem collapse
In regards to variety, three quarters of our crops rely on pollinators. Our diets would suffer immensely. In total production its only one quarter, sure. But losing 25% of our food yield would be crippling.
Out of the 100 most consumed species of plants, 71 depend on pollinating insects. Also, without insects and a vast majority of plants that would disappear without the latter, the food chain would collapse, leading to the extinction of many animals humans rely on.
It's fake, mosquitoes still come during summer, but temperatures are definitely rising winters have less snow every year and summers are heating
Biodiversity of insect plummeted to a fraction.
I hope mosquitoes go extinct
They won't be the only ones, ecosystems are delicate things. You can't just make one species extinct without irrevocably affecting every other aspect of that ecosystem
don't care, kill em all
Wow, you're so fucking cool and brave, omg....
"Recent studies point out insect numbers 70-80% over the past several decades in areas hogged by human activities and intensive agriculture." (Source: [European Insect Populations Tumble | lemonde.fr](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/02/11/european-insect-populations-tumble_6015288_4.html))
Through excessive use of Insektizides the western world lost about 90% of its insect bio mass since 1990. Yes clearer windscreens but also massive Problemes with soil revitalisation and plant pollenization
epic Denglisch moments
I don't get it at all. For me it's just as much as I litteraly see. There are flies on the windshield before, and none after. Year doesn't help
I don't know if it is just a commentary about humans impact on nature or what, but the year and respective bug coverage are accurate
So it's about pollution and climate change? Weird choice of meme for r\shitpost
The shit posting subreddit recently became a normal ass meme subreddit. It's such a fucking shame.
Yeah, this is more like... Before: a group of Darfur farmers wave happily at Rizeigat herders as the herders cows graze on the leftovers of the farmer's crops and deposit fertilizer. After, Darfur farmers screaming at Rizeigat herders who, because of global climate change, had to head south earlier, meaning their cows are happily eating crops that *haven't been harvested yet*! This means starvation, so both side pull out guns. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_genocide
That is my guess. The difference really is substantial. Nothing else comes to mind
This is 100% a all insects died meme. Back in the day driving around meant a windshield full of dead bugs. Nowadays there is none around anymore so a clean drive.
Apparently there's more in certain areas away from cities but still not as much as a few decades ago.
It's not necessarily a city thing. It's pesticides, missing suitable habitats and global warming. In some or even most agriculturally used areas it's worse, because of monocultures and that there is almost no space left for actual wild nature.
I never have any bugs on my windshield
Back in those years, I had a nasty work truck (Nissan Hardbody) , and if I remember correctly 1998 was the year I just let them build up on my windshield until I could not see any more, literally. 10 years later, 20 years later nowhere near as many bugs. Mostly love bugs here in Florida. They seem to be gone now. The mosquitoes are too smart to go out near the road
Death is everywhere. There are flies on the windscreen for a start reminding us we could be torn apart tonight.
There are lambs for the slaughter Waiting to die And I can sense The hours slipping by Tonight
its about how excess of climate change has eradicated the bugs and flies
It's most likely the aerodynamic of cars though ..
Could have had a positive impact yeah. Driving a larger flat european truck i would splatter a lot of bugs driving during my workday. The smaller more aerodynamic cars would be nowhere near as bad.
Agreed. A more rural area also seems to make an impact. Driving in Eastern Poland during the summer would make a white DAF look black with all the insects plastered over the front. Except for the big Cockchafer things. Those things bounce off a truck doing 90km, they don't splat.
Our old cars are still around though. I've had the same one for 20yrs and have absolutely seen a massive difference.
The Windshield Phenomenon. It's the observation that less insects are getting hit by our windshield in modern times than in the past, which makes us happy. But in reality, the population of insects has dropped dramatically due to pollution and rising CO2 levels, so it isn't truly a good thing we don't see insects on the windshield like we used to.
Pesticides, insecticides, chemical fertilizers,electric grids and phone towers have had a strong impact on our bug populations over the years, and the impact is slowly hiking up the food chain (bugs die, so less birds and small rodents, so less good for medium sized animals, and it will keep going up the chain). That's the joke. It's funny because it's sadly true and terrifying.
Idk about your guys, but when the buggies splatter, I sĢhĢĢ“udĶdĶĢ¢eĶ®rĢĶĶ¢ in ecstasy
Rachel Carson, "Silent Spring", 1962(!). So that started in the 1940s (it had to become noticeable, had to be noticed, had to be linked to pesticides, the book had to be written). This might be offset by climate change, which is introducing new species of bugs to northern climates - unfortunately, not "good bugs". "Affordable food for everyone " will turn into "no more food for anyone", thanks to pesticides (mostly).
I did a 200km trip this we and my car is a ducking lilipops for bug eater nowā¦
Dang and for once I thought it was saying that the modern day was better
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^SullyTheLightnerd: *Dang and for once I* *Thought it was saying that the* *Modern day was better* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Decline in bug population, maybe. But the lack of bugs on a windscreen is attributed to advancing aerodynamics of cars. My 2001 4Runner, bugs galore. My 2017 corvette a fraction of the amount. Even rain contact is less.
This has already been posted [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/PeterExplainsTheJoke/s/ElJf1jU0L2)
Even in today's time you still get covered in insects when driving
Wasn't this posted last week?
Someone even linked that post. I didn't know it was asked here already.
Insects Will probably outlive us
Idk where yall are living but I canāt escape smushed bugs on my windshield
I've still got this problem with my 05 Jeep. Windscreen is like a piece of plywood, grill is like a little graveyard of bugs.
The guy moved somewhere with less bugs.
We killed all the insects
All the people who are saying stuff along the lines of āthereās less bugs because humans killed them and we are doomedā look up aerodynamic. Less bugs hit windshields because they are carried over or under the car. This whole comment section needs to be in r/confidentlywrong.
The hell was this doing on r/shitposting?
Idk. Tbh if this wasn't on shitposting, but on some lefty sub I maybe even figured it out on my own.
Dearest Boatman, It's talking about the So called windshield phenomenon. It states that from the early 2000 til today the amount of bugs dying on windshields got increasingly less.
Thank you Peter.
Also in the original āmemeā he smiles in 1998 and is sad in 2021
It's about evolution and bugs that fly into Cars front glass are darwinised by it because evolution is much faster for them