mass extinction

Scott Gilmore: Where have the horseflies, ladybugs and dragonflies gone? Insect numbers are plummeting everywhere, and it could mean the end of our world.

Two researchers say the damage to the world’s tropical forests may not be as bad as first feared. Because population growth is slowing in many countries and people are moving to cities, the pressure to cut down primary rainforest and use marginal land for agriculture is falling, according to Joseph Wright of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and Helene Muller-Landau of the University of Minnesota.