Ecologists are horrified after discovering that "half the tree of life" may disappear in several decades because of planetary warming, the Guardian reported 

What's happening?

According to the Guardian, ecologist Daniel Janzen stated that nature reserves are now being depleted of insects, even in areas that aren't sprayed with pesticides. Nearly 50 years ago, in the Costa Rican forest, the story was different. Back then, the ecosystem was teeming with life; insects and animals could be seen everywhere, with hardly a branch left uncovered. 

At night, the forest really came to life. When Janzen put a light on the forest, tens of thousands of moths emerged. When he created a light trap — a tool used to measure nocturnal insect numbers — he counted 3,000 species that had come from the trap. At that moment, his career path took a totally different direction, aimed at studying the forest's often overlooked creatures. 

Nowadays, however, in the Guanacaste conservation area of Costa Rica, the forest has become remarkably quiet. The Guardian described it best: "Not a forest, but a museum." Janzen said that when he hangs up his light traps now, very few moths are seen. 

"We're at a new point in human history," said David Wagner, an entomologist who has spent a large part of his career documenting the vast diversity of insect life in the United States, per the publication. Up until the last decade, "the major drivers of biodiversity losses around the planet were really land degradation and land loss, habitat loss. But I think now that climate change is by far exceeding that."

Why are declining moth populations concerning?

The dropping moth populations in remote areas indicate a "new era" of ecological collapse, according to ecologists. For some time, insect numbers worldwide have been declining, with reports suggesting a loss globally of between 1% and 2.5% of total biomass each year. 

Scientists attribute the devastating decline of insects to the combined effects of pesticide and fertilizer use, light and chemical pollution, habitat loss, and industrial farming. What's especially concerning about the disappearing moths, however, is that the decline is happening in areas far removed from human activity. 

Insect numbers in nature reserves in Germany, the U.S., and Puerto Rico have declined by anywhere from 75% to 83%, signaling that the decline in bug numbers is a worldwide phenomenon. 

"No matter what we do in nature, there will be winners and losers," Wagner said, per the Guardian. "But we are seeing a lot of losers." 

He noted that birds, lizards, and other animals are also experiencing catastrophic losses because of the lack of insects they depend on for food. 

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Global heating is a major reason for the ecosystem imbalances and biodiversity loss we're seeing around the world. Insects are some of the most sensitive creatures to changes in the environment, and since so many elements of nature are out of whack, they're having a hard time surviving. Lack of rainfall and changes in humidity levels are also negatively impacting insects. 

What's being done about dropping insect numbers?

The best way to keep insects around is to speed up the transition to clean energy and do what's possible to protect the environment. Planting native trees and flowers can also attract bugs to your backyard, so that's an easy thing to do to help insects thrive. 

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