Rampant Insecticide Use in Europe Threatens Streams

With the impending increase in temperature due to climate change, scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) predicts an enormous usage of insecticides that could negatively impact bodies of water in Europe. The study published in the journal Ecological Applications highlights "how the use of insecticides in agriculture will jeopardize the state of streams across Europe, especially in central Europe, and the Baltic and Nordic regions." The researchers established an association between insecticide use and temperature as "climate change will trigger a jump in the rate of development of insects and the rate of survival in the winter."

The research team, currently working under the EU Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC), targets to secure and maintain a good chemical and ecological status for all waters. The team believes that exposure of streams and rivers to pesticide exposure needs to be reduced, and this can be reached by cutting pesticide use and establishing buffer zones along the streams. The buffer zones would serve as a refuge for threatened species, from where they can start to evolve a new population in the future.

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