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Insect Populations Plummeted 75 Percent Since 1989, Study Says

An Adonis blue butterfly rests in the long grass in Ladywell Park on July 21, 2014 in London. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
An Adonis blue butterfly rests in the long grass in Ladywell Park on July 21, 2014 in London. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

New research out of Germany is raising alarms about the health of the world’s ecosystems. Scientists say their data suggest the population of all flying insects has plummeted by more than 75 percent since 1989.

The study was published Thursday in the journal PLoS One. Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson talks with Caspar Hallmann, one of the study’s co-authors.

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